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LIFE  OF 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


f II  •' 


■ 


■ 


GIORDANO  BRUNO 


THE  NOLAN. 


LIFE 

' \ V 

OF 

ORDANO  BRU 

THE  NOLAN 


BY 

I.  FRITH. 


REVISED  BY 

PROFESSOR  MORIZ  CARRIERE. 


BOSTON: 

TICKROR  & CO. 

1887. 


ftmwzo  (os  w to, 


R1ri»a7-  e^'-r 


BmZF 


Jnscrtbeb 

TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 

NICHOLAS  TRUBNER , 

THE  FAITHFUL  FRIEND  AND  KIND  ADVISER  WHO 
PROPOSED  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THIS  BOOK, 

WHOSE  INTEREST  IN  IT  CONTINUED  UNFAILING 
TO  THE  LAST  HOURS  OF  HIS  LIFE, 

AND  WITHOUT  WHOSE  AID 
THESE  PAGES  COULD  NEVER  HAVE  BEEN 


WRITTEN. 


PREFACE. 


There  is  a fact  in  the  great  history  of  Cardinal  Baronius 
by  which  certain  writers  take  pattern.  The  Romans  of 
his  day  are  divided  by  him  into  two  parties,  Catholics  and 
Schismatics:  to  the  first  he  applies  all  the  good,  to  the 
latter  all  the  evil,  that  is  told  of  the  city.  Now  although, 
when  judging  the  past  in  the  light  of  the  present,  we  are 
like  those  who  at  high  noon  find  fault  with  the  shadows 
of  dawn,  yet,  even  in  these  enlightened  times,  we  are 
apt  to  weigh  our  personal  likes  and  dislikes  with  matters 
above  the  jurisdiction  of  Church  and  State,  forgetting  the 
words  of  Bacon,  “ That  we  are  much  beholden  to  those  that 
write  what  men  do,  and  not  what  they  ought  to  do .”  And, 
unlike  that  Australian  colony  which  sent  up  a petition 
for  “ convicts  of  good  character ,”  we  may  take  exception 
to  certain  critics,  more  learned  in  expression  than  in 
research,  who  say  that,  for  an  atheist,  Giordano  Bruno 
had  extraordinary  merits.  But  enlightened  and  honest 
readers  of  his  Works  will  discover  them  to  be  his  best 
defence  against  the  unjust  and  terrible  imputation  of 
atheism.  “ No  man,”  says  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  “ can  put 
more  in  his  sitter’s  head  than  he  has  in  his  own;”  and, 
in  the  same  way,  if  we  would  understand  a philosophical 
writer,  we  must  meet  him  in  a philosophic  spirit,  not  with 


PREFACE. 


viii 

a disposition  to  tolerate  no  theories  except,  as  the  Prayer- 
Book  says,  “ those  hammered  on  our  own  anvils.” 

The  influence  of  this  courageous  thinker  on  the  golden 
age  of  English  literature  has  hitherto  almost  escaped 
notice.  As,  however,  the  existence  of  invisible  celestial 
bodies  is  foretold  by  the  perturbations  of  visible  stars,  it 
is  interesting  to  show  how,  by  the  shining  track  of  thought, 
Bacon,  Sidney,  Marlowe,  and  perhaps  even  Shakespeare, 
are  related  to  an  obscure  foreign  visitor.  These  resem- 
blances can  he  traced  by  a moderately  careful  study  of 
the  Italian  works,  notably  the  dialogues  Della  Causa. 

During  Bruno’s  stay  in  England  his  best  work  was 
accomplished ; and  in  the  Cena  delle  Ceneri  his  notes  on 
English  society  and  on  English  manners  in  the  time  of 
Elizabeth  will  be  found  full  of  interest.  England,  which 
had  harboured  him  in  his  happier  days,  and  for  which  he 
entertained  a sincere  affection,  is  last  in  attempting  to  re- 
instate his  memory  ; but  it  is  a source  of  sincere  gratitude 
to  the  writer  of  these  lines  that  Professor  Carriere,  the 
philosopher  who  was  among  the  first  to  recognise  and  to 
make  public  the  merits  of  Bruno,  should,  after  the  lapse 
of  nearly  forty  years,  be  found  willing  to  revise  the  slender 
and  imperfect  tribute  of  a country  tardy  to  render  him 
justice. 


In  beginning  at  this  late  date  an  account  of  the  life  and  works  of 
Giordano  Bruno,  acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  labours  of  earlier 
writers.  Forty  years  ago  two  young  students — Moriz  Carriere  and 
Christian  Bartholmess — of  different  nations,  personally  unknown  to 
each  other,  and  ignorant  of  each  other’s  labours,  undertook  the  task 
of  writing  histories  of  the  Nolan.  The  French  Life  of  Bruno  was 
published  in  1 846,  at  Paris,  in  two  volumes ; the  German  history 
occupies  part  of  a work  entitled  Die  Philosophische  Weltanschauung 
der  Reformationszeit,  printed  in  1847  at  Stuttgart.  With  few  materials 


PREFACE. 


IX 


at  their  command  the  two  young  scholars  overcame  the  contention, 
raised  by  the  Catholics,  that  Bruno  never  existed,  or,  if  he  existed, 
was  never  burnt ; and,  carefully  sifting  all  the  scanty  evidence,  they 
pieced  together  with  great  pains  historic  accounts  which  are  verified 
by  new  facts  as  they  appear  ; while  their  system  of  the  Nolan  philo- 
sophy is  invaluable  to  later  students. 

To  Professor  Moriz  Carriere  is  due  the  distinction  of  having  been 
the  first  to  point  out  Bruno’s  greatest  achievement  in  philosophy, — 
his  doctrine  that  God  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  immanent  and 
transcendent ; that  he  is  not  only  within  us,  nearer  to  ourselves  than 
we  are  to  ourselves,  the  life  of  life,  light  of  light,  the  vivifying  Spirit 
of  all,  but  that  he  is  self-conscious  and  self-existent,  one  in  whom 
act  and  power,  possibility  and  reality,  are  one,  who  is  all  he  can  be 
in  every  part,  and  thus  plainly  distinguished  from  the  universe, 
which  is  all  it  can  be  as  a whole,  but  not  in  its  parts. 

Nor  did  Christian  Bartholmess  flinch  in  the  cause  of  idealistic 
philosophy,  upholding,  with  great  learning  and  with  the  insight 
born  of  sympathy,  the  Platonic  and  essentially  spiritual  character  of 
Bruno’s  teaching. 

We  have  next  the  history  of  Bruno  written  by  Dr.  Brunnhofer  of 
Aarau  (Leipsig,  1882),  reviewing  the  philosophy  from  a materialistic 
point  of  view,  and  embodying  the  latest  discoveries  with  regard  to 
Bruno’s  life  ; and  that  of  Signor  Berti  ( Vita  di  Giordano  Bruno  da 
Nola,  Florence,  1868),  which  contains  a great  quantity  of  valuable 
material ; while  two  scholarly  pamphlets  by  Professor  Sigwart 
( Giordano  Bruno  vor  dem  Inquisitionsgericlit,  1881,  and  Die  Lebens- 
geschichte  Giordano  Bruno’s , Tubingen,  1880)  present  a searching 
though  brief  analysis  of  Bruno’s  history  and  philosophy ; and  a 
succession  of  smaller  works  bear  witness  to  the  growth  of  public 
interest,  first  roused  by  Moriz  Carriere  and  by  Christian  Bar- 
tholmess. 

N.B. — The  full  titles  of  Bruno’s  works  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendix.  In  quoting  various  editions,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  notice  that  W.  represents  the  edition  of  the 
Italian  works  published  by  Wagner  at  Leipsic  in  1830, 
and  Gfr.  stands  for  the  Latin  works  reprinted  by  Gfroerer, 
Stuttgart,  London,  and  Paris,  1834. 

The  documents  of  Bruno’s  trial  in  Venice,  which  took 
place  in  the  year  1592,  are  reprinted  by  Signor  Berti 


X 


PREFACE. 


under  the  title  Documenti  intorno  a Giordano  Bruno  da 
Nola,  Rome,  1880. 

It  is  in  contemplation  to  print  a second  volume,  con- 
taining a summary  of  the  works,  with  the  documents  of 
the  trial  and  other  confirmatory  evidence. 

The  thanks  of  the  writer  are  due  to  Mr.  Wm.  Heinemann, 
who  has  kindly  compiled  a list  of  authorities  which  will 
he  found  a valuable  addition  to  the  Appendix. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGK 

Birth  at  Nola,  1548 — The  Spanish  Yiceroys — The  Poet 
Tansillo — Dominicans — Aquinas — The  Noah’s  Ark 
— Pope  Pius  Y 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Naples  — The  Florentine  Academy  — The  Trials  at 
Naples  and  in  Rome — Flight  from  Rome,  1576 — 

Genoa — Noli — The  Sphere — Bruno’s  Theory  of 
the  Stars  and  Suns— Turin— Venice — Copernicus  28 

CHAPTER  III. 

Geneva,  May  20,  1579 — Lyons — Toulouse,  1579-80  . . 50 

CHAPTER  IY. 

Geneva — Journey  through  France,  1581 — Paris — Lully 

— Some  Latin  Works  on  the  Art  of  Memory  . . 68 

CHAPTER  Y. 

England,  1583-85 — M.  Castelnau  de  MauvissiJire — 
Doctrine  of  Ecstasy — Traces  of  German  Mysti- 
cism—Bruno  at  Oxford,  June  1583 — His  Lectures 
on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul — The  Printer 
Vautrollier — Sidney 104 


CONTENTS. 


xii 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

Second  Visit  to  Paris,  1585 — The  Disputation — Por- 
trait of  Bruno — Value  op  Induction  and  of  the 
Imagination — Influence  of  his  Philosophy  upon 
his  Character  — Its  Influence  on  Descartes, 
Spinoza,  and  Leibnitz 136 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Paris,  June  i,  1586 — Mayence,  July  1586 — Marburg, 

July  1586 — Matriculated  at  Wittenberg,  August 
20,  1586— Quits  Wittenberg,  March  1588 — The 
Farewell  Oration  at  Wittenberg  . . . .163 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Prague,  1588 — Helmstedt,  January  13,  1 5 S9  . . .189 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Frankfort,  July  2,  1590 — On  the  Threefold  Minimum — 

On  the  Monad,  the  Innumerable,  the  Immense,  and 

THE  UNFIGURABLE — On  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  IMAGES, 

Signs,  and  Ideas 205 

CHAPTER  X. 

Zurich — Padua — The  Trial  at  Venice  ....  238 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Trial  at  Rome — The  Death  of  Bruno  . . . 284 


LIFE  OF  GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


CHAPTER  I. 

“ Ecrivez  philosophic  ou  filosophie  comme  il  vous  plaira  ; mais  convenez 
que,  des  qu’elle  parait,  elle  est  persecutee.” — Voltaibe,  Dictionnaire 
Philosophique,  Art.  “ Pkilosophie.” 


Birth  at  Nola,  1548.  The  Spanish  Viceroys.  The  Poet  Tansillo. 

Dominicans.  Aquinas.  The  Noah’s  Ark.  Pope  Pius  V. 

In  the  year  1548,  at  Nola  near  Naples,  there  was  born  a 
man  destined  to  mark  out  a new  era  in  philosophy.  One 
of  a group  of  noble  figures,  who,  like  the  Israelites  of  old, 
passed  through  the  fire  unharmed,  Giordano  Bruno  died 
for  philosophy,  and  philosophy  in  return  will  keep  his 
memory  green,  not  only  among  the  laurels  and  olives  of  his 
country,  but  in  every  land  where  the  truth  is  honoured 
among  the  emblems  of  peace  and  victory. 

His  life  offers  material  of  great  interest.  He  was  a 
figure  typical  of  his  time,  of  that  brilliant  period  of  transi- 
tion when  the  genius  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  merged  in 
the  spirit  of  modern  inquiry.  Few  and  chilly  the  souls 
which  could  come  into  the  presence  of  that  fiery  spirit 
without  kindling  into  enthusiasm,  nor  without  becoming 
attached  to  a writer  so  fertile  in  contrasts.  With  a singular 
inventive  mind,  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  express  him- 
self in  verse  ; but  he  was  rather  a philosopher  than  a poet. 

Bruno  was  born  eight  years  after  the  death  of  Coper- 

A 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


nicus,  into  whose  inheritance  he  was  to  enter,  and  thirteen 
years  before  the  birth  of  Bacon,  to  whom  in  some  degree 
he  was  to  bequeath  his  philosophy.  His  birthplace  lay  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Cicala,  near  Vesuvius,  and  under  the 
benign  sky  of  Italy,  “that  region,”  as  he  says  (W.  i.  222), 
“ beloved  of  heaven,  the  head  and  dexter  hand  of  this 
globe,  the  queen  and  tamer  of  all  other  generations  of  man, 
by  us  and  others  ever  held  to  be  the  mistress,  nurse,  and 
mother  of  all  virtues.”  Ardent  and  impetuous,  he  was  called 
in  his  own  time  the  knight-errant  of  philosophy;  for  he 
was  one  of  the  violent  who  take  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
by  storm.  In  his  own  words,  “ Difficulty  is  ordained  to 
deter  mean  spirits ; rare,  heroic,  and  divine  men  pass 
over  the  road  of  difficulty  and  compel  necessity  to  yield 
them  the  palm  of  immortality  ” (W.  i.  142).  His  mind, 
coloured  by  the  luminous  air  and  brilliant  skies  of  his 
birthplace,  received  the  powerful  impetus  of  the  Renais- 
sance, and  his  thought  asserted  itself  with  the  greater 
force  from  having  snapped  the  restrictions  laid  upon  it  by 
the  Church. 

“ Men,”  says  Tasso,  “ resemble  the  earth  which  bears 
them  ; ” and  the  fire  burning  within  Bruno  was  kindled  near 
Vesuvius  and  fostered  on  a volcanic  soil.  “ In  their 
entire  historical  appearance,”  says  Schwegler  when  speak- 
ing of  Bruno,  Campanella,  and  Vanini,  “ they  are  like  the 
eruptions  of  a volcano,  rather  precursors  and  prophets, 
than  originators  and  founders  of  a new  era  of  philosophy;” 
and  the  comparison  is  made  acceptable  by  the  place  of 
Bruno’s  birth  and  by  the  fiery  metaphors  which  other 
writers  have  bestowed  on  him.  “ He  is,”  says  Hegel,  “ a 
comet,”  and,  like  a comet,  it  may  be  said  he  returns  to  sight 
after  three  hundred  years.  “ The  works  of  Bartholmess 
of  Strasburg,”  says  Baron  Bunsen  (Memoirs,  ii.  254), 
“gave  me  occasion  to  become  more  nearly  acquainted 
with  that  strange,  erratic,  comet-like  spirit,  a genius,  but  a 
Neapolitan,  whose  life  was  but  a fiery  fragment.”  He  is 
called  by  Hallam  “the  meteor  of  science,”  and  Victor 


NOLA,  1548. 


3 


Cousin  speaks  of  the  “ traces  of  mingled  blood  and  fire  ” 
which  mark  Bruno’s  progress  in  the  history  of  civilisation. 

Abandoning  contemplation  for  observation,  he  was  the 
champion  of  natural  science;  he  sought  knowledge  in 
nature,  and  preferring  the  inductive  method,  he  was  the 
herald  of  the  great  Bacon.  His  theories  anticipate  many 
modern  discoveries,  and  in  the  pure  ideality  of  his  con- 
ceptions he  surpasses  Descartes  and  Leibnitz,  Berkeley, 
Spinoza,  and  even  Hegel,  philosophers  said  to  derive  much 
from  his  teaching.  With  him,  nothing  is  real  but  the  ideal ; 
and,  like  the  orator  of  Cicero,  he  maintains  there  is  nothing 
of  any  kind  so  fair  that  there  may  not  he  a fairer  conceived 
by  the  mind ; while  with  Plato  he  affirms  the  idea  to  be 
an  individual  object,  an  eternal  exemplar  present  in  the 
Divine  mind,  and  received  by  man  in  participation,  but 
not  in  essence. 

Something  in  the  history  of  Hola  itself  contributed  to 
the  energy  of  its  sons.  Italy  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Renaissance.  The  genius  of  Dante  and  Petrarch,  the 
splendid  discoveries  of  Columbus,  Yespucius,  and  Cabot, 
the  ambition  of  the  Medici,  descended  upon  no  unworthy 
heirs,  and  the  discoveries  of  Galileo  in  the  heavens  were 
at  least  on  a par  with  those  of  the  great  travellers  in  the 
western  hemisphere.  But  the  dark  thread  in  this  glitter- 
ing skein  of  wealth  and  adventure  was  the  spirit  of 
intolerance,  which  had  descended  upon  the  leaders  of  the 
people.  The  Inquisition,  under  the  fostering  care  of  Paul 
III.,  sprang  into  renewed  existence  three  years  before  the 
death  of  Luther.  It  was,  perhaps,  merely  an  indication  of 
the  intolerance 1 common  to  the  whole  of  Europe. 

1 But  no  foreign  tyranny,  nor  blossom  on  that  happy  soil.  If 
even  the  insufferable  shadow  of  the  higher  praise  could  be,  Bruno  at 
Inquisition,  which  fretted  Bruno’s  least  could  dream  of  none  ; and  in 
heart,  could  dim  the  lustrous  image  this  he  resembled  Dante,  who  speaks 
of  his  birthplace.  In  the  Heroic  { Convilo , ii.  16)  of  Boethius  and 
Rapture  (W.  ii.  402)  he  assigns  to  Tully  as  having  directed  him  “ to 
the  nymph  Diana,  who  is  the  symbol  the  love,  that  is,  to  the  study,  of 
of  truth,  the  “golden  fields  of  this  most  gentle  lady  philosophy.” 
Nola  ” among  “ beauteous  nymphs”  “I  say  and  affirm,”  he  says  again 
who  represent  all  the  virtues  that  ( Convito , v.  16),  “that  the  lady  with 


4 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


These  unfavourable  conditions  were  increased  by  the 
despotism  of  Spain.  The  Escurial  gave  the  tone  to  Italy. 
The  little  town  of  Nola  is  some  miles  from  Naples,  which 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  Spanish  Viceroy.  Bruno  was 
born  under  the  sinister  auspices  of  Spain,  towards  the  end 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  V.,  and  under  the  viceroyalty  of 
Don  Pedro  of  Toledo,  who,  according  to  Brantome,  was 
for  twenty  years  the  scourge  of  Naples.  Under  Philip 
II.  the  fanatic  Duke  of  Alva  presented  himself  as  an 
object  of  terror  to  the  people.  He  was,  says  De  Thou, 
“ better  for  war  than  for  peace ; and  he  was  persuaded 
that  the  foundations  of  empire  should  be  laid,  not  in  love, 
but  in  terror.”  He  had  slaughtered  eight  hundred  heretics 
in  one  Easter  week,  and  pillage  and  massacre  were  the 
ordinary  accompaniment  of  his  victories ; while  such  was 
the  cruelty  of  his  rule,  that  in  1574  the  seamen  of  Zealand 
during  a revolt  wore  a crescent  on  their  hats  with  this 
inscription,  “ Bather  Turks  than  Papists,”  to  imply  that 
the  Turks  had  more  humanity  than  Alva.  The  horrible 
“ Spanish  fury,”  which  was  a proverb  in  the  Netherlands, 
did  not  belie  itself  in  Italy.  Spain  was  the  aggressive 
power  of  that  day.  Every  nation  trembled  before  her ; 


whom  I became  enamoured  after  my 
first  love  was  the  most  beautiful  and 
modest  daughter  of  the  Emperor  of 
the  Universe,  to  whom  Pythagoras 
gave  the  name  of  Philosophy.  ” The 
goddess  of  Bruno’s  worship  is  made 
to  issue  from  a forest ; her  sovereign 
beauty  and  goodness  eclipse  all 
others,  and  make  them  vile  and 
vain  ; she  is  the  highest  bliss  ; she 
causes  all  earthly  passions,  all  fear 
and  hope,  yea,  life  itself  to  be  for- 
gotten ; he  who  is  seized  by  this 
divine  passion  loves  the  flame  con- 
suming him  ; his  sickness  is  better 
than  health  ; his  chains  than 
liberty.  He  is  a prisoner,  a slave  ; 
but  the  divine  love  does  not  weigh 
his  spirit  down  to  earth  ; it  raises 
him  above  all  things,  and  above 
liberty  itself  ; its  yoke  is  of  fire,  but 


lighter  than  air  ; he  who  is  its 
slave  is  so  thrice  blessed  that  he 
envies  neither  God  nor  men  their 
liberty.  For  this  blissful  concep- 
tion the  philosopher  can  choose  in 
the  whole  earth  no  happier  home 
than  Nola,  “the  little  city,” 
which,  according  to  Montaigne, 
“ was  ruined  by  barbarians  ” — such 
is  the  difference  in  men’s  liking. 
Yet  in  a foreign  land  Bruno  writes 
(W.  i.  220),  “ The  true  philosopher 
makes  every  country  his  own  ; ” and 
this  same  spirit  inspires  his  touch- 
ing address  to  Castelnau,  written 
in  exile  ( Explicatio  30  Sigillorum), 
where  he  speaks  of  his  gratitude 
to  one  who  has  made  a home  for 
the  homeless  wanderer,  by  changing 
England  into  Italy,  and  London 
into  Nola. 


THE  “SPANISH  FURY: 


5 


and  Alva,  after  those  victories  which  he  followed  up  with 
massacres  so  prodigious,  that  but  for  his  own  testimony 
they  would  seem  too  monstrous  for  belief,  Alva  erected  a 
colossal  statue  to  himself,  attired  in  classical  costume,  the 
base  adorned  with  choice  mythological  figures — none  of 
which,  it  may  be  hoped,  referred  to  that  sacrifice  by  the 
hangman  of  twenty  thousand  human  beings,  for  which 
the  Duke  was  responsible,  in  the  Netherlands.  The  king 
of  Spain,  however,  was  the  only  power  at  all  comparable 
to  the  Grand  Turk ; and  the  representative  of  the  king 
of  Spain  in  Naples  was  a figure  hardly  less  hideous  and 
terrific  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  rich  and  smiling  Italian 
country  than  that  pagan  neighbour  who  was  perpetually 
threatening  a descent  upon  their  coasts. 

Nola  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  Italy.  Standing 
midway  between  Vesuvius  and  the  sea,  it  was  encircled 
in  ancient  times  by  walls  of  great  height,  and  its  twelve 
gates  were  crowned  with  high  towers,  in  order  that  the 
city  might  stand  a long  siege.  From  its  twelve  gates, 
twelve  roads  led  into  the  outlying  country,  or  brought 
princes  from  Rome  or  from  Athens  to  the  palaces,  the 
stately  temples,  and  amphitheatres  which  were  set  thickly 
together  under  the  shadow  of  Vesuvius.  In  the  time  of 
Bruno,  however,  these  splendid  edifices  had  disappeared. 
The  hewn  and  polished  marbles,  which  might  have  defied 
decay,  were  seized  by  the  first  comer  and  worked  into  the 
wall  of  an  orchard  or  the  roof  of  a pig-sty;  and  while 
Petrarch  sighed  that  Rome,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  world, 
should  adorn  from  her  own  bowels  the  slothful  luxury  of 
Naples,  Naples  and  the  surrounding  cities  were  given  up 
to  the  same  work  of  devastation.  The  palaces  of  senators 
were  no  longer  adapted  to  the  manners  of  peasants ; the 
baths  were  prohibited  because  they  spread  the  plague  ; 
the  porticoes  were  neglected  and  their  use  forgotten ; in 
the  sixth  century  the  games  of  the  theatre,  amphitheatre, 
and  circus  had  been  interrupted ; some  temples  were  used 
as  Christian  churches,  but  where  money  was  sufficiently 


6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


plentiful  the  holy  figure  of  the  cross  was  preferred  to  the 
ruins,  however  splendid,  of  buildings  with  heathen  asso- 
ciations. But  if  the  people  were  unmindful  of  the  use 
and  beauty  of  ancient  architecture,  they  by  no  means 
despised  the  bountiful  materials  at  their  disposal ; and 
marble  which  could  not  be  used  to  eke  out  modern  build- 
ings was  burnt  to  lime  and  made  into  cement.  Still,  in 
witness  of  their  ancient  grandeur,  the  people  found  from 
time  to  time  vases,  gems,  and  coin  embedded  in  the  soil ; 
and  except  for  these,  and  for  some  legacy  of  gentleness 
and  cultivation  which  lingered  among  her  sons,  Nola 
might  have  wept  with  the  wife  of  Phinehas  over  her 
departed  glory.  The  historians  of  the  beloved  city  count 
among  famous  Nolans  the  poet  Tansillo,  Albertino  Gentile, 
the  jurist;  Algeri,  who  was  the  forerunner  of  Bruno  in  the 
grievous  ways  of  martyrdom ; Ambrogio  Leone,  the  his- 
torian of  his  native  place  and  the  friend  of  Erasmus,  with 
a number  of  lesser  lights,  ranging  from  Merliano  the 
sculptor,  who  was  surnamed  the  Neapolitan  Buonarotti, 
to  Santarelli  Stellioli,  names  which  still  live  in  the  history 
of  the  little  town. 

Nola,  according  to  Berti,  preserved  more  and  deeper 
traces  of  Greek  civilisation  than  any  city  of  Magna  Grecia. 
It  was  a bishopric,  and  twelve  years  after  Bruno’s  birth 
could  boast  a college  founded  by  the  Jesuits.  “ The 
Jesuits,”  says  Fuller  in  his  Church  History,  “had  two 
most  ancient  and  flourishing  convents  beyond  the  seas; 
Nola  in  Italy,  as  I take  it,  where  their  house  it  seems 
gives  a bow  for  their  arms ; and  La  Eleche  in  France, 
where  they  have  an  arrow  for  their  device : 

“Arcum  Nola  dedit,  dedit  his  La  Fletche  Sagittam  ; 

Illis,  quis  nervum,  quem  merdere,  dabit.”  . . . 

No  actual  proof  of  the  influence  of  Bruno’s  parents  on 
his  early  training  remains.  But 

“ There  is  a history  in  all  men’s  lives, 

Figuring  the  nature  of  the  times  deceased,” 

2 Henry  IV.,  iii.  i. 


THE  POET  TANS1LL0. 


7 


and  the  fact  that  his  training  was  serious  and  philosophic, 
and  begun  at  a very  early  age,  shows  that  the  person 
directing  him,  whether  father  or  mother,  was  fully  capable 
of  estimating  and  applying  his  powers.  There  seems  also 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  poet  Tansillo1  was  the  friend 
of  Bruno’s  father;  and  in  that  case,  the  latter  probably 
came  of  a stock  by  no  means  ignoble.  Tansillo,  himself 
of  noble  birth,  belonged  to  the  republic  of  letters.  He 
was  befriended  in  his  youth  by  Ariosto ; he  was  acquainted 
with  Tasso,  and  he  was  well  received  at  the  court  of  the 
Viceroy,  Don  Pedro  de  Toledo.  Learning  and  adventure, 
poverty  and  noble  antecedents  had  helped  to  form  his 
character,  a touch  of  licentiousness  serving  to  associate 
him  with  the  other  minor  poets  of  his  time.  He  was  born 
about  the  year  1510,  at  Venosa,  of  Nolan  parents,  and 
spent  his  early  youth  at  Nola,  where  he  probably  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Bruno’s  family,  which  is  proved  by 
the  register  to  have  been  settled  for  a length  of  time  near 
Mount  Cicala.  Tansillo  lived  for  many  years  at  Naples ; 
and  it  is  possible  that  under  his  neighbourly  direction  the 
“Nolan  Muse,”  of  which  Bruno  speaks  so  fondly,  was 
fostered  and  developed. 

In  any  case,  a powerful  and  lasting  influence  was  brought 
to  bear  on  the  young  poet,  and  his  descent,  so  far  as  it  is 
known,  does  not  altogether  account  for  his  poetic  gift. 
His  father  was  a soldier.  His  mother,  Fraulissa  Savolina, 
was  almost  certainly  of  German  extraction,  and  he  was 
born  in  or  near  the  German  colony  outlying  Nola.  Among 
the  numerous  women  upon  the  Nolan  registers,  the  singular 

1 Tirabosclii  speaks  of  Tansillo  as  hideous  perverter  of  elegance  than 
an  “ elegant  writer, ” adding,  “He  Aretino  probably  never  existed, 
has  been  exalted  above  Petrarch,  After  the  appearance  of  Tansillo’s 
which  is  too  great  praise  for  him,  first  poem,  the  Yendemmiatore,  his 
and  denied  by  persons  of  any  dis-  works  were  prohibited  by  Pope  Pius 
cernment.”  The  critic  concludes  IV.  The  poet  then  tuned  his  lyre  to 
by  remarking  that  three  comedies  another  strain,  and  wrote  a devo- 
ascribed  to  Tansillo  were  the  work  tional  ode  entitled  The  Tears  of  St. 
of  the  infamous  Aretino  ; a fact  Peter,  on  which  the  Pope  was  ap- 
which  completely  dismisses  the  ques-  peased,  and  Tansillo’s  name  was 
tion  of  “ elegance,”  since  a more  taken  off  the  Index. 


8 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


name  of  Fraulissa  does  not  occur;  it  is  believed  by  Brunn- 
liofer  to  be  a form  of  Fraulinda,  or  of  the  old  high  German 
Fraulich.  The  registers  of  Nola,  which  have  been  searched 
by  Fiorentino,  show  the  father  of  Bruno  to  have  been 
twenty  years  of  age  in  1545;  he  was  the  son  of  one 
Geronimo  Bruno,  then  aged  forty-six,  and  was  one  of  a 
family  of  nine  children.  It  is  possible  that  Geronimo 
Bruno  was  still  alive  in  1591  when  De  Minimo  was 
written ; that  is  to  say,  if  the  words  distantis  imago 
parentis  (book  ii.  chap.  3)  are  to  be  taken  literally,  as 
suggested  by  M.  Paul  de  Lagarde.  It  is  certain  that  both 
the  father  and  mother  of  Bruno  were  dead  at  the  time 
of  his  trial.  An  allusion  to  the  foreign  colony  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Cicala  occurs  in  the  Expulsion  (W.  ii.  152), 
when  mention  is  made  of  a maestro  Danese  and  of  one 
Franzino,  a name  of  German  origin.  The  charcoal- 
burners  of  Mount  Scarvacta  near  Mount  Cicala  are  spoken 
of  in  the  Candle-Bearer  (W.  i.  30),  and  Bruno  speaks 
again  of  his  native  place  towards  the  end  of  the  play 
(W.  i.  10 1 ) — “ To  Don  Paulino,  priest  of  S.  Primma,  which 
is  in  a village  near  Nola,  Scipio  Savolino  went  one  Good 
Friday  and  confessed  his  sins,  and  though  many  and 
great,  they  were  speedily  absolved,  for  the  curate  was  his 
friend.  On  the  next  occasion,  without  more  ado,  Scipio 
said  to  Don  Paulino,  ‘ Father,  to-day’s  sins  complete  the 
year,’  and  Don  Paulino  replied,  ‘ Son,  thou  knowest  to- 
day’s absolution  completes  the  year.  Go  in  peace,  and 
sin  no  more.’  ” 

There  is  an  allusion  to  the  father  of  Bruno  in  the 
Heroic  Rapture  (W.  ii.  324),  which  seems  to  prove  that 
some  of  Bruno’s  philosophy  was  inherited.  On  a neigh- 
bour saying  one  evening  after  supper,  “ I was  never  so 
happy  as  I am  now,”  he  was  answered  by  Gioan  Bruno, 
the  father  of  the  Nolan,  “’Tis  because  thou  wast  never 
more  foolish  than  now.”  (This  may  be  compared  with 
a story  which  appeared  lately  in  an  American  journal. 
“ The  snow  don’t  pile  so  high  as  it  did,”  said  one  Yankee 


YOUTH  OF  BRUNO,  1548-76. 


9 


peasant  to  another.  “ When  we  were  boys  we  used  to 
make  caves  in  the  drifts  that  you  could  stand  upright  in, 
and  have  room  overhead  too.”  “ ’Tis  because  we  were 
shorter  than  we  are  now,”  said  his  neighbour.)  Bruno 
preserves  but  one  anecdote  of  his  childhood  (Gfr.  572). 
When  he  was  in  swaddling-clothes  (an  elastic  period  in 
Italy),  a huge  snake  crept  through  a hole  in  the  wall  of 
the  house.  The  boy  screamed,  and  his  father,  who  was 
sleeping  in  the  next  room,  came  running  with  a thick 
stick.  He  overcame  the  serpent,  pouring  out  meanwhile 
“ vehement,  irate  words,”  which  so  impressed  the  child, 
that  years  after,  “ his  memory  awaking  as  from  a dream,” 
he  was  enabled  to  repeat  word  for  word  all  that  had 
passed. 

The  powerful  order  of  the  Dominicans,  with  the  Spanish 
Government  at  its  back,  offered  a promising  career  to  a 
studious  lad,  and  one  which  it  was  policy  on  the  part  of 
his  parents  to  accept,  specially  equipped  as  he  was  by 
his  own  love  of  learning.  Dominican  and  Franciscan 
alike  aspired  to  rule  the  universities,  and  to  do  so,  the 
universities  must  be  met  on  their  own  ground.  Besides, 
the  Dominican  order  having  been  founded  by  a Spaniard, 
and  sharing  to  a certain  degree  the  acquisitive  national 
humour,  was  openly  supported  by  Spain,  not  alone  in 
Naples,  but  in  independent  countries.  St.  Dominic  and 
his  institution  are,  in  fact,  the  expression  of  the  hier- 
archy of  the  West,  while  St.  Francis  represents  the  direct 
resignation  of  the  Christian  spirit,  not  to  the  traditions 
of  a Church,  but  to  love  and  to  Christ.  The  Dominican 
looked  to  the  Church  for  salvation;  the  Franciscan  taught 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  within  the  Christian. 
Poverty  and  self-denial,  these  were  his  rules,  and  these 
instruments  guided  him  on  the  way  to  heaven  ; but  the 
Dominican’s  hope  lay  in  the  power  of  the  Word.  The 
Franciscan’s  outward  poverty  was  inward  riches,  the 
riches  of  Christ ; he  desired  to  be  poor  in  this  world  that 
he  might  be  rich  in  righteousness.  He  preached  by  the 


IO 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


roadside,  in  meadows,  and  in  fields,  speaking  the  common 
tongue  of  the  people,  exhorting  to  love,  self-denial,  and 
poverty.  The  Dominican  system  demanded  from  each 
preacher  and  confessor  a rigorous  examination  by  skilled 
examiners ; he  must  possess  not  only  a profound  know- 
ledge of  the  Scripture,  but  a special  gift  of  preaching ; and 
if  he  had  not  these,  he  was  not  permitted  to  preach  at  all. 
Dor  the  Dranciscan,  the  inner  light  sufficed;  if  his  calling 
was  from  God,  the  learning  of  man  was  of  no  account. 

Yet  it  may  be  said,  in  the  words  of  Dante,  “Unto  one 
end  their  labours  were”  ( Paradiso  xi.),  a verse  imme- 
diately following  his  celebrated  comparison  of  St.  Francis 
to  the  flame,  and  St.  Dominic  to  the  light,  “ the  one 
seraphic  in  ardour,  the  other,  by  his  wisdom  on  the  earth,  a 
splendour  of  cherubic  light.” 

But  if  their  ends  were  the  same,  there  was  a vast  dif- 
ference in  the  means  employed  by  the  two  orders.  St. 
Dominic,  that  saturnine  and  repelling  Spaniard,  the 
“ Chastiser  ” of  Dante,  was  aptly  characterised  by  his 
funereal  garb ; by  the  dog,  his  emblem  ; and  by  the  title 
of  Persecutor  of  the  Heretics,  bestowed  on  him  by  the 
Inquisition  of  Toulouse,  after  his  expedition  to  stamp  out 
the  Albigenses.  Twelve  years  after  the  death  of  the 
founder,  his  powerful  spirit  was  living  still ; and  the 
brethren  of  his  Order  became  the  bodyguard  of  the 
Inquisition — the  domini  canes,  the  dogs  of  the  Lord,  who 
truly  stood  in  no  need  of  them. 

The  Church  in  troubled  times  offered  a safe  and  peace- 
able calling  to  a lover  of  letters,  and  Bruno  from  his  early 
youth  was  inclined  to  poetry  and  learning.  He  probably 
quitted  ISTola  when  in  his  tenth  or  eleventh  year.  Until 
his  fourteenth  year  he  studied  privately  in  Naples  under 
an  Augustinian  friar,  Teofilo  da  Yarrano,  and  he  may  have 
lodged  with  his  uncle,  Agostino  Bruno,  whom  we  know 
by  the  Nolan  register  to  have  been  a weaver  of  velvet, 
living  in  Naples.  He  also  attended  the  lectures  of  a 
pjrofessor  named  II  Sarnese,  who  may  have  been  one 


LIFE  IN  THE  CLOISTER,  1563-76. 


11 


Vincenzo  Colle  da  Sarno,  1 the  author  of  Destructio 
destructionem  Baldovini  qtias  quidem  destructor  ad  im- 
plevit,  Neap,  apud  M.  Cancer,  1554. 

That  Bruno  attended  private  lectures  is  a proof  either 
of  his  precocious  love  of  learning,  or  of  the  assiduous 
attention  of  his  parents  and  of  their  easy  circumstances. 
He  learnt,  he  says  at  his  trial,  logic,  dialectic,  and  what 
was  then  called  humanism,  and  later  belles-lettres,  beside 
arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  poetry,  astrology,  physics, 
metaphysics,  and  ethics  (W.  ii.  187),  which,  with  logic, 
are  counted  by  Bruno  as  the  nine  daughters  of  the  great 
mother  Mnemosyne. 

Thus  pursuing  his  studies,  Bruno  was  at  peace  while 
the  Neapolitan  provinces  were  racked  by  earthquake,  pest, 
and  famine.  The  Turks  descended  upon  the  people  of 
Chiaia,  and  carried  them  away  as  slaves.  Calabria  was 
infested  with  a band  of  outlaws  led  by  a robber  chief, 
who  facetiously  called  himself  il  re  Marcone.  In  the  same 
province  the  unhappy  Waldenses,  wrho  had  fled  from 
Piedmont  for  refuge,  endured  unheard-of  tortures,  and 
ended  their  wretched  lives  as  martyrs.  Eighty-eight  of 
them  had  their  throats  cut  with  the  same  knife,  and  the 
rest  were  quartered,  and  their  remains  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  to  be  a warning  in  the  provinces  ( Archivio  Storico 
del  Viesseux,  vol.  ix.)  What  wonder  that,  in  the  midst  of 
such  events,  the  young  philosopher  should  turn  for  peace, 
leisure,  and  advancement  to  the  convent  ? 

It  is  said  that  had  there  been  no  Jesuits  there  had  been 
no  Voltaire;  and  perhaps  had  there  been  no  Dominicans 
the  philosophy  of  Bruno  could  not  have  come  into  exist- 
ence. “ Mathematics,”  said  the  Dominican  Father  Caccini, 
when  preaching  at  Florence  on  the  Galileans,  a punning 
reference  to  Galileo,  “ are  an  invention  of  the  devil;”  and 
some  such  opinion  may  have  prevailed  in  the  Dominican 

1 This  Augustinian,  after  teach-  and  afterwards  was  called  to  Rome, 
ing  the  doctrines  of  Aristotle  for  where  he  delivered  lectures  on  meta- 
some  years  in  Naples,  was  named  physics  to  the  great  satisfaction  of 
Rector  of  the  convent  of  Florence,  his  hearers. 


12 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


convent  in  Naples.  Either  the  young  monk’s  taste  for 
mathematics  or  his  passion  for  disputation  soon  brought 
him  into  collision  with  his  spiritual  masters,  and  it  will 
be  readily  understood  why  he  spent  a great  part  of  his 
life  in  travelling,  as  well  whilst  he  was  in  orders  as  out  of 
them,  since  the  course  of  this  stormy  spirit,  flying  before 
the  gust  like  a petrel,  was  beset  with  difficulties,  of  which, 
to  confess  the  truth,  he  was  too  often  the  author. 

“ From  my  eighteenth  year,”  he  says  in  the  evidence  of 
his  trial  (Doc.  xi.),  “ I doubted  within  myself  . . . regard- 
ing the  name  of  the  persons  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  not  comprehending  the  two  Persons  distinct  from 
the  Father,  except  as  speaking  philosophically,  and  assign- 
ing the  intellect  of  the  Father  to  the  Son  and  his  love  to 
the  Holy  Spirit,  without  recognising  that  name  of  Person, 
which  by  St.  Augustine  is  declared  to  be  a name,  not  old, 
but  new,  and  of  his  time.” 

Nor  were  his  views  of  the  monks  such  as  to  make  him 
tolerant  of  their  company.  In  the  Expulsion  he  speaks  of 
them  as  “ personages  very  ready  to  give  away  places  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  incapable  of  earning  an  inch 
of  ground  for  themselves.”  “ Let  friars  live,”  says  one  of 
the  accusers  at  his  trial,  repeating  the  words  of  Bruno, 
“ on  a scanty  portion  of  broth  ” (Doc.  iv.),  and  ascetio 
contemplation  or  ecstasy  he  dismisses  ( Sigillus  Sigillorum, 
Gfr.  576)  with  the  strongest  expressions  of  disgust. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  or  between  fourteen  and  fifteen 
(1562-63),  Bruno  assumed  the  dress  of  the  Dominicans, 
when  he  changed  his  baptismal  name  of  Filippo  for  that 
of  Giordano,  and  entered  the  cloister  of  St.  Dominic  in 
Naples,  once  the  home  of  Thomas  Aquinas.  The  convent 
itself  wears  an  enticing  aspect  for  the  lover  of  study.  It 
stands  among  palaces  upon  a hill,  its  antique  front  turned 
towards  the  city,  and  flanked  by  spacious  perfumed  gardens, 
with  cloisters  running  round  their  outer  sides.  Meditation 
seems  to  wait  upon  the  age  and  silence  of  the  spot,  which 
bears  the  imprint  of  ten  centuries  on  its  strong  walls  and 


LIFE  IN  THE  CLOISTER,  1563-76. 


13 


solitary  cells.  Three  hundred  years  before,  Aquinas  had 
watched  the  incomparable  aspect  of  Naples  daily  brighten 
and  grow  dim  from  the  spot  where  Bruno  now  waited  on 
his  destiny.  The  presence  of  the  Angelic  Doctor  still 
lingers  in  the  ancient  pile.  In  his  cell,  which  is  now  a 
chapel,  he  first  designed  the  system  of  religious  philosophy 
which  he  taught,  sitting  in  a hall  on  the  right  of  the  con- 
vent church.  The  church  itself,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
in  Naples,  is  full  of  historic  tombs,  embellished  by  hands 
which  lend  another  lustre  to  immortality,  and  above  the 
altar  is  the  crucifix  which  it  is  said  held  converse  with 
the  saint,  and  manifested  its  approval  of  his  doctrine. 

In  this  monastic  seclusion  the  young  philosopher  spent 
thirteen  years,  from  1563  till  1576.  The  Prior,  Ambrogio 
Pasqua,  appears,  according  to  his  epitaph  in  the  Church 
of  Santa  Maria  della  Sanita,  to  have  possessed  a strong 
character.  He  was  vice-chancellor  of  the  College  of  Theo- 
logy, a public  lecturer,  and  exemplary  in  his  life  and  doc- 
trine. Probably  he  resembled  other  Italian  priests  of  his 
day.  The  Church  was  their  world ; they  were  nimble- 
minded  and  persuasive,  quick  to  discern  merit,  and  to  press 
it  into  the  service  of  their  order;  and  the  dawning  powers 
of  the  young  monk  were  not  likely  to  escape  observation. 
After  a year’s  novitiate  Bruno  made  his  full  profession 
before  the  Prior,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  assumed  servi- 
tude for  life — a precocity  in  which  there  was  nothing 
unusual,  for  Campanella  was  invested  with  the  habit 
when  he  was  fourteen,  and  Sarpi  at  the  age  of  thirteen. 

We  learn  from  the  evidence  which  he  gave  when  put 
upon  his  trial  at  Venice,  that  in  due  time  the  young  monk 
was  promoted  to  holy  orders  and  to  the  priesthood,  and 
that  he  saDg  his  first  mass  in  Campagna,  a city  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  in  the  mountains  to  the  east  of  Salerno, 
living  meanwhile  in  a Dominican  monastery  dedicated 
to  St.  Bartholomew.  Afterwards,  in  pursuit  of  his  priestly 
calling,  he  celebrated  mass  and  the  other  divine  offices, 
under  the  direction  of  his  superiors,  while  travelling  from 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


cloister  to  cloister,  and  applying  himself  to  the  treasures 
of  the  libraries. 

During  these  years  of  monastic  life  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  those  stores  of  learning  on  which  he  framed  his 
books ; and  without  that  period  of  leisure  it  is  certain  his 
best  literary  work  would  have  lacked  its  richness  and 
variety.  He  had  a complete  knowledge  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  Greeks,  was  fairly  acquainted  with  the  Kabbalah, 
though  he  wras  no  Hebrew  scholar,  and  he  knew  the  Latin 
translations  of  the  great  Arabic  philosophers.  Among  the 
scholastics  his  early  training  made  him  acquainted  with 
Thomas  Aquinas,  on  whom  he  gave  public  lectures ; the 
mystic  teaching  of  Raymund  Lully  was  blended  in  his 
mind  with  the  more  practical  natural  philosophy  of  the 
Cardinal  Bishop  of  Cusa  and  the  great  astronomical  dis- 
coveries of  Copernicus.  His  mind  grew  by  that  it  fed 
on  ; and  there  is  scarcely  an  author  on  whom  it  is  easier 
to  point  out  the  influences  to  which  he  was  subject  and 
the  sources  to  which  he  looked  for  enlightenment.  “ What 
vast  reading  and  what  varied  study,”  says  Bartholmess, 
“ appear  on  every  page  ! How  many  authors  are  praised, 
blamed,  and  quoted  ! how  large  a place  the  schools  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  above  all,  those  of  antiquity,  hold  in  his 
memory  ! what  an  empire  they  exercise  over  his  opinions  ! ” 

Bruno  himself  tells  us  that  he  became  a Dominican  in 
order  to  pursue  learning  and  to  strengthen  his  imagina- 
tion ; and  in  proof  of  his  command  over  the  wisdom  of  the 
ancients,  the  German  critic  Jacobi  writes  that  he  (Bruno) 
had  made  their  writings  his  own,  and  that,  penetrated  as 
he  was  by  the  spirit  of  antiquity,  he  nevertheless  pre- 
served his  own  identity.  The  love  of  Nature,  the  use  of 
induction  (“  which,”  says  Bacon,  “ is  our  only  hope  ” (Nov. 
Or.  Aphor.  14),  “the  only  fitting  remedy  by  which  we  can 
ward  off  and  expel  idols  ”),  above  all,  the  proper  use  of 
the  imagination — these  were  his  weapons,  and  this  the 
method  he  chose. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  coercion  of  monastic 


THE  NOLAN  MUSE. 


15 


rule  forced  him  to  seek  refuge  in  himself,  and,  in  his  own 
words  (W.  ii.  3 1 3),  “ Being  drawn  on  the  one  side  by  the 
tragic  Melpomene  (who  has  more  sense  than  humour),  and 
on  the  other  by  the  comic  Thalia  (who  has  more  humour 
than  sense),  it  happened  that  while  the  one  Muse  would 
steal  him  from  the  other,  he  remained  in  their  midst, 
rather  neutral  and  inactive  than  diligent  with  both. 
Moreover,  those  in  authority  withheld  him  from  the 
higher  and  more  worthy  aims  to  which  he  was  disposed 
by  nature ; his  mind  was  enslaved,  and  from  being  free 
under  virtue,  he  became  the  prisoner  of  a most  vile  and 
foolish  hypocrisy.  Finally,  through  press  of  trouble,  it 
happened  that  having  no  other  consolation,  he  turned  to 
those  (the  Muses),  who  are  said  to  have  inebriated  him 
with  frenzies,  verses  and  rhymes,  such  as  they  vouchsafe 
to  no  other ; for  they  are  worthy  of  laurels  who  sing 
of  heroic  things,  establishing  heroic  souls  in  philosophy, 
or  truly  celebrating  it,  and  holding  it  up  as  a mirror  and 
example  to  nations;”  and  a little  later  he  says  (316), 
that  with  the  Muses  he  is  “ comforted,  sustained,  and 
directed,  and  that  they  are  his  refuge  in  time  of  weariness 
and  peril;”  concluding  thus,  “For  to  those  who  are 
favoured  by  Heaven  the  greatest  ills  turn  to  blessings 
yet  greater,  since  necessity  begets  toil  and  learning,  and 
these  for  the  most  part  give  birth  to  the  glory  of  a splendid 
immortality.”  But  of  his  experience  in  verse-writing  he 
says,  “ Doubtless  the  Poet  at  sundry  times  and  from  many 
causes  rejects  the  Muses.  Firstly,  he  may  lack  the  neces- 
sary leisure,  for  leisure  is  lacking  to  one  forced  to  strive 
against  the  servants  and  slaves  of  envy,  ignorance,  and 
wickedness.  Secondly,  because  no  worthy  helpers  and 
defenders  are  beside  him  to  make  him  steadfast.” 

The  development  of  his  mind  may  be  traced  in  several 
passages  of  his  books.  When,  as  a boy,  he  looked  upon 
Cicala  from  his  home,  he  could  see  chestnuts,  laurels,  and 
myrtles ; and  the  more  distant  Vesuvius,  that  singular 
and  solitary  hill,  honeycombed  with  fire,  seemed  to  him  a 


i6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


rude  unfruitful  mass.  But  when  at  length  he  came  to 
Vesuvius  and  could  perceive  the  abundance  of  separate 
things,  the  vines  and  all  the  other  growth,  and  looked 
over  to  Cicala,  which  in  its  turn  had  put  on  a blank  and 
shapeless  aspect,  he  deduced  the  lesson  that  “ in  Nature 
there  is  no  distance  and  nothing  is  near,  but  that  Nature 
is  everywhere  spacious  and  lofty.”  (“  No  one  actually 
sees  distance;  he  sees  only  certain  signs  from  which  he 
has  learned  to  judge  intuitively  of  it.” — Maudsley.) 

“ The  truest  and  most  essential  painter,”  he  says 
(Gfr.  529),  “is  the  liveliness  of  the  fancy;  the  first 
and  most  essential  poet  is  inspiration,  which  is  co- 
equal with  thought,  and  by  the  divinity  or  divinely-sent 
influence  of  which  thought  becomes  due  and  suitable 
representation  of  both.  Inspiration  is  the  innermost 
principle.  Therefore,  and  in  a certain  measure,  philo- 
sophers are  painters  ; poets  are  painters  and  philosophers  ; 
! painters  are  philosophers  and  poets.  He  who  is  not  a 
| poet  and  a painter  is  no  philosopher.  We  say  rightly 
) that  to  understand  is  to  see  imaginary  forms  and  figures ; 
and  understanding  is  fancy,  at  least  it  is  not  deprived  of 
fancy.  He  is  no  painter  who  is  not  in  some  degree  a poet 
and  thinker,  and  there  can  be  no  poet  without  a certain 
measure  of  thought  and  representation.”  And  again, 
] “ Some  men  discover  harmony  by  means  of  the  eye,  others, 
' though  in  a less  degree,  by  the  ear.  The  minds  of  true 
poets,  musicians,  painters,  and  philosophers  are  clearly 
related  one  to  the  other,  since  all  true  philosophy  is  at 
the  same  time  music,  poetry,  and  painting.  True  poetry 
1 is  at  the  same  time  music  and  philosophy.  True  poetry 
and  music  are  in  a manner  divine  wisdom  and  painting  ” 
(. De  Imaginum  Signorum  et  Idearum  Composition e).  These 
words  will  be  found  peculiarly  useful  in  dealing  not  only 
with  Bruno,  but  with  his  critics  and  historians.  Numbers 
of  able  and  learned  men  have  approached  the  subject, 
and  from  every  point  of  view  it  is  certain  that  some  light 
may  be  gathered ; but  too  many  of  these  writers  bestow 


THE  NOLAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


1 7 


their  own  individuality  upon  facts  and  a philosophy 
which  demand  more  sympathising  treatment.  As  a short 
painter  will  unconsciously  draw  his  figures  too  short  and 
a Jewish  painter  gives  a hook  to  the  nose  of  his  hero,  in 
the  same  way  a materialist  writes  of  materialism  and 
makes  his  hero  a materialist;  and,  indeed,  every  man  puts 
into  his  work  something  of  his  own.  In  works  upon 
Bruno  and  his  philosophy  he  will  be  found  to  appear  as  a 
materialist,  an  atheist,  a pantheist,  and  sometimes  in  his 
true  character  as  an  idealist. 

Indeed,  to  rebut  the  charges  of  pantheism  and  atheism 
levelled  at  his  memory  must  be  the  task  of  every  student 
of  the  ISTolan  philosophy,  who  cannot  but  feel  with  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  when  he  wrote,  “ It  likes  me  much  better 
to  find  virtue  in  a fair  lodging,  than  when  I am  bound  to 
seek  it  in  an  ill-favoured  creature,  like  a pearl  in  a dung- 
hill.” Had  Bruno  survived  to  write,  like  Descartes,  a 
Discours  sur  la  Mtthode,  the  Nolan  must  have  escaped  the 
accusation  of  pantheism  which  has  risen  from  his  concep- 
tion of  a world-soul,  with  its  attendant  difficulties.  The 
soul  of  the  world  is  understood  by  Bruno  to  be,  like  the 
soul  of  man,  from  God  and  in  God,  having  its  being  from 
him  and  doing  its  duty  for  him  ; perfect  in  harmony,  use, 
and  beauty,  because  it  is  inspired  by  him,  a flaming 
minister,  a luminous  and  excellent  star,  a herald  and 
ambassador  setting  forth  his  glory.  A firm  believer  in 
the  power  of  thought,  he  held  it  to  be,  like  all  the  works 
of  God,  divine  in  its  origin,  bearing  within  itself  the  ful- 
ness of  life,  and  sealed  with  the  seal  of  infinity,  and  he  was 
a forerunner  of  all  who  have  struggled  and  suffered  in  the 
cause  of  religious  freedom.  “ He  suffered,”  says  Coleridge 
in  his  Table-Talk  and  Omniana , “ at  Rome  for  atheism  ; 
that  is,  as  is  proved  by  all  his  works,  for  a lofty  and 
enlightened  piety,  which  was,  of  course,  unintelligible  to 
bigots  and  dangerous  to  an  apostate  hierarchy.  If  the 
human  mind  be,  as  it  assuredly  is,  the  sublimest  object 
which  nature  affords  to  our  contemplation,  his  lines,  which 


i8 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


portray  the  human  mind  under  the  action  of  its  most 
elevated  affections,  have  a fair  claim  to  the  praise  of 
sublimity.” 

Few  men  at  any  period  are  more  closely  identified  with 
philosophy  than  Bruno,  and  yet  there  are  few  thinkers 
whose  names  are  less  familiar  to  the  world.  No  work 
exists  in  English  even  with  the  small  scope  of  the  present 
volume,  viz.,  to  give  a review  of  the  least  abstruse  of  his 
writings,  and  to  lay  before  the  public  such  scanty  materials 
as  are  at  present  forthcoming  with  respect  to  his  life.  But 
fortunately,  history  is  not  entirely  dependent  on  the 
material  facts  of  existence  : thought  plays  a large  part  in 
life;  and  a record  of  Bruno’s  thought  lies  before  us  in 
a long  series  of  works  occupied  with  the  discussion  of 
scientific  truths.  Many  of  these  truths  are  now  no  longer 
tokens  of  battle,  but  remain  like  tattered  flags  to  tell  of 
the  struggle  and  pains  of  victory.  Such  is  the  theory  of 
Copernicus.  Others,  such  as  the  theory  of  instinct,  of 
evolution,  of  the  life  of  species,  of  the  perfectibility  of 
man,  of  the  history  of  the  earth,  and  the  relations  of  the 
universe,  still  form  the  rallying-ground  of  thinkers.  His 
claim  to  distinction  rests  upon  his  vigorous  scheme  of  in- 
ductive thought,  and  upon  a quality  which,  at  that  period 
remote  from  modern  science,  is  like  the  insight  of  a seer 
into  tli e hidden  forces  of  Nature.  “Why  lean,”  he  says, 
“ upon  vain  fancy  when  experience  herself  is  our  teacher  ?” 
(W.  ii.  56).  “Let  us  see,  therefore,  to  what  innumerable 
discoveries  we  are  enabled  to  proceed  by  the  way  of  trial, 
experiment,  comparison,  observation,  and  abstraction.  For 
does  it  not  sometimes  occur  that,  as  we  pursue  a certain 
end,  another  nobler  still  arises  before  us,  as  with  alchemists 
who,  in  seeking  gold,  find  that  which  is  far  better  and  more 
desirable?”  (Gfr.  525).  He  looks  upon  the  earth  as  a vast 
body,  living  and  dependent  on  the  bounty  of  God.  All  the 
moist  stars  or  earths  owe  their  existence  to  the  suns, 
thus  illustrating  the  doctrine  that  out  of  oppositions  of 
heat  and  cold  life  is  produced. 


THE  NOLAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


'9 


Speaking  of  Bruno  as  “this  great  man,”  Tiraboscki 
■writes,  “ It  would  be  difficult  to  find  bis  equal,  either  in 
his  greatness  or  in  his  faults.”  His  pages  are  deluged  in 
ideas  and  obscured  by  a chaos  of  distinctions,  and  yet  his 
soul,  like  a particle  of  celestial  fire,  is  not  quenched ; and 
“ such  is  his  greatness,”  writes  Saisset,  “ that  his  very 
errors  have  a character  of  nobility  ” ( Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,  Nov.  18,  1847).  No  means  was  unfair,  no  con- 
ceit too  far  fetched  to  rouse  interest  in  the  problems  under 
discussion.  The  name  he  chose  for  himself  was  the 
Awakener  ; and  provided  he  could  raise  a laugh  or  startle 
curiosity,  he  took  no  pains  either  to  prune  his  style  or  to 
lay  the  demon  of  quotation  which  came  from  his  vast 
stores  of  learning.  Manzoni  said  of  Dante  that  he  was 
master  not  only  of  anger  but  of  smiles  ; and  Bruno  writes 
that  his  readers  shall  weep  or  laugh  with  him,  as  they  may 
be  disciples  of  Heraclitus  or  Democritus : for  he  believed 
it  to  be  his  mission  to  announce  the  truth  ; not  to  develop 
and  establish  it.  Students  will  look  in  his  work  in 
vain  for  close  reasoning,  or  for  that  omission  of  detail 
which  we  are  told  by  Schiller  is  characteristic  of  the 
artist ; yet  of  all  the  men  who  lived  and  suffered  in  that 
great  revival,  none  had  a keener  consciousness  of  the  spirit 
of  the  time  than  Giordano  Bruno. 

He  believed  a great  revolution  was  in  store  for  the 
world,  and  he  was  never  weary  in  repeating  his  convic- 
tion that  the  hewn  branch  should  blossom,  ancient  truths 
revive,  hidden  truths  be  revealed,  and  that  upon  the  dark- 
ness of  night  a new  light  should  arise  and  shine  upon 
men  (W.  ii.  82  ; De  Trip.  Min.,  p.  7). 

“ Some  dispositions,”  says  Lord  Bacon  in  the  Novum 
Organum,  “ evince  an  unbounded  admiration  of  antiquity, 
others  eagerly  embrace  novelty.  ...  "VVe  have  reason 
to  expect  much  greater  things  of  our  own  age  than  from 
antiquity,  . . . and  the  admiration  of  antiquity  forces 
man’s  industry  to  rest  satisfied  with  present  discoveries.” 

No  present  discovery  and  no  expert  of  antiquity  con- 


20 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


tented  the  restless  spirit  of  Bruno  or  placed  restraint  upon 
his  speech.  “ Calling  things,”  he  says,  “ by  their  proper 
names,  I say  monks  are  monks,  preachers  preachers, 
leeches  leeches,  and  the  like  with  everything  in  Nature.” 
It  was  a maxim  of  the  late  M.  Yan  de  Weyer  that  a diplo- 
matist may  say  what  he  pleases,  provided  he  is  careful  to 
observe  the  form  best  suited  to  his  purpose  ; and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  reckless  speaking  brought  the  Nolan  into  many 
difficulties,  and  finally  drew  upon  him  the  unmerited  re- 
proach of  atheism. 

A fresh  source  of  danger  to  Bruno  lay  in  the  fact  that 
he  neglected  the  severe  and  difficult  language  of  the 
schools,  and,  following  the  advice  of  Fuller,  “ We  must 
speak  with  the  Volge  and  think  with  the  wise,”  wrote  in 
Italian ; not  caring  with  what  asperity  he  spoke,  nor  on 
whom  the  lash  of  correction  fell.  The  style  of  his  Italian 
works  is  supple  and  amusing.  They  consist  of  dialogues  in 
which  the  scheme  of  the  universe  is  expounded  by  one 
speaker,  and  somewhat  clumsily  attacked  by  another. 
Bold  denunciations  of  false  systems  of  philosophy  and 
religion  are  intermingled  with  spirited  appeals  to  that  love 
of  the  beautiful  and  the  divine  which  springs  perennially 
in  the  conscience ; and  in  familiar  words,  recalling  the 
passionate  accents  of  Luther,  men  were  taught  physical 
truths,  and  exhorted  to  prove  all  things  and  to  hold  fast 
that  which  was  good.  Thus  his  works  appealed  to  a large 
class  of  the  people,  who,  as  on  the  Arabian  carpet,  were 
carried  from  sphere  to  sphere  without  fatigue ; and  in  pass- 
ing the  limit  of  the  world  they  were  likely  to  elude  their 
spiritual  masters,  who  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  objection- 
able and  dangerous  fact. 

Bruno’s  works  in  Latin  have  been  called  by  many 
critics  worthless  and  obscure,  and  it  is  true  that  to  pene- 
trate their  secrets  is  to  reach  the  golden  branch  which  in 
the  Eastern  story  grew  on  a mountain  top  beset  by  troops 
of  hobgoblins  and  surrounded  by  a thicket  of  thorns.  But 
we  learn  from  Winckelmann  that  “ Philosophy  gives  her 


THE  NOLAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


21 


hand  to  Art,  and  breathes  into  its  figures  more  than 
ordinary  souls  ; ” and  if  this  be  so,  more  indulgence  is  due 
to  the  philosopher  than  to  ordinary  souls,  who,  in  their 
exertion  to  overcome  the  difficulties  besetting  him,  share 
in  his  triumph  when  the  crowning  achievement  of  their  toil 
is  to  attain  a lofty  and  independent  philosophy,  its  own 
proof  of  merit  and  title  of  nobility. 

The  course  of  Bruno’s  wanderings  may  be  traced  over 
Europe  by  his  books ; and  it  was  strange  that  he  always 
succeeded  in  finding  a printer  and  in  producing  something 
new  to  be  printed.  In  less  than  eleven  years,  this  wan- 
dering scholar,  without  means,  without  help,  and  almost 
without  disciples,  was  enabled  to  produce  a vast  quantity 
of  work  ; and  his  discourses,  his  writings,  and  his  general 
activity  forced  recognition  even  from  his  enemies.  The 
age  in  which  he  lived,  and  the  many  towns  in  which  he 
was  called  upon  to  print  his  works,  presented  mechanical 
difficulties  of  which  modern  writers  have  but  a small  con- 
ception. But,  triumphing  over  every  obstacle,  he  was  un- 
ceasing in  his  labours  for  the  truth,  although  the  Inquisi- 
tion, which  understood  the  truth  otherwise,  was  making 
ready  to  reduce  him  to  the  silence  of  the  grave. 

Some  one  said  of  Caesar  that  he  was  “a  monster  of 
diligence ; ” and  if  Bruno  is  to  be  judged  by  the  quantity 
of  work  which  he  produced  during  a life  beset  by  difficulty 
and  danger,  his  diligence  is  as  much  to  be  admired  as  the 
insurmountable  patience  with  which  he  endured  seven 
years  of  captivity,  and  died  at  last  by  fire,  a martyr  to  his 
convictions.  In  vain  he  pleaded,  as  Voltaire  pleaded 
later,  that  he  spoke  not  as  a theologian,  but  as  a 
philosopher  (“  humainement  ”)  ; in  vain  he  sought  for 
shelter  in  a distinction  between  matters  of  faith  and 
matters  of  reason;  for  chance, with  the  “slippery  foot”  of 
which  Queen  Elizabeth  wrote  to  Queen  Mary,  delivered 
him  up  to  the  Inquisition,  that  “ poniard  aimed  at  the 
throat  of  literature,”  the  yet  more  deadly  enemy  of 
science. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


The  necessity  of  enlarging  the  proportions  of  the  world 
filled  the  Catholics  with  dismay.  The  innovators  had 
burst  asunder  the  narrow  inflexible  skies  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  opening  a tremendous  perspective  of  immeasurable 
space.  It  was  sacrilege  to  teach  that  the  skies  were  sub- 
ject to  change  and  motion ; that  space  is  the  dwelling  of 
law,  not  of  privilege ; and  that  new  worlds  arise,  decay, 
and  submit  to  the  eternal  revolutions  of  life. 

The  Church  shrank  from  the  cold  naked  vault  now 
that  it  was  no  longer  peopled  with  the  familiar  faces  of 
friends  in  heaven ; she  could  not  soar  aloft  among  forces 
so  far  removed  from  the  tapers  which  smoked  on  her 
altars.  Nor  could  she  endure  the  shock  of  discovering  that 
the  miracle  of  creation  was  not  over.  She  would  not  face 
the  fact  that  a miracle  is  not  less  wonderful  because  it  is 
an  everyday  occurence,  and  she  placed  herself  in  oppo- 
sition, not  to  sectaries  and  fanatics,  as  hitherto,  but  to 
the  tables  of  the  law  written  on  the  face  of  the  living 
universe.  The  result  of  the  struggle  was  certain  ; but  it 
was  slow,  and  it  was  not  to  be  accomplished  without 
terrible  sacrifices. 

Charm  is  said  by  Lessing  to  be  beauty  in  motion,  and 
philosophy  may  be  said  to  be  truth  in  motion,  though,  in 
common  with  all  advances,  its  forward  course  is  twice 
fatal — to  him  who  opposes  it,  and  to  him  who,  moving  with 
it,  is  identified  with  it  and  destroyed  by  its  enemies.  The 
latter  was  the  fate  of  Bruno ; and  if  at  first  sight  his 
seems  a hard  lot,  and  the  scheme  of  Providence  inscrutable, 
the  tenor  of  his  writings  was  always  such  as  to  show  that 
he  longed  for  death,  which  was  to  make  him  immortal ; 
while  in  every  law  of  nature  alike  that  beneficent  scheme 
lies  veiled  which  out  of  pain  and  evil  brings  forth  correc- 
tion, and  out  of  correction  progress. 

In  the  convent  of  St.  Dominic  at  Naples  Bruno  pro- 
bably wrote  many  of  his  sonnets,  putting  the  finishing 
touches  to  them  later  in  England.  The  Candle-Bearer 


“ THE  NOAH’S  ARK,”  1366-72. 


23 


and  the  Noah's  Ark  seem  to  have  been  written  about  this 
period.  The  latter  work  was  dedicated,  or  was  said  to  be 
dedicated,  to  Pope  Pius  V.,  who  filled  the  Papal  seat  from 
1566  to  1572.  It  was  therefore  a very  youthful  produc- 
tion. In  the  dedicatory  epistle  of  the  Cabal  (W.  ii.  255) 
Bruno  speaks  of  having  “ consecrated  and  presented  ” a 
book  called  the  Noah’s  Ark  to  Pope  Pius  V.  It  has 
never  been  printed,  and  it  has  totally  disappeared.  Berti 
believes  that  the  book  was  never  really  presented  to  the 
Pope,  and  that  its  contents  were  probably  repeated  in 
The  Cabal  of  the  Pagasean  Norse,  the  fantastic  dedica- 
tion of  which  was  addressed  (without  his  permission)  to 
the  Bishop  of  Casamarciano. 

The  argument  of  the  Noah’s  Ark,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  gathered  from  Bruno’s  vague  and  scattered  allusions, 
appears  to  lie  in  the  symbolic  representation  of  all  the 
society  of  men  by  means  of  animals.  Within  the  wooden 
walls  of  this  ark  the  whole  animal  kingdom  is  collected, 
and  it  is  governed  by  the  ass,  on  whom  the  gods  have 
conferred  “ pre-eminence  and  a post  in  the  poop.”  The 
ass,  according  to  Bruno,  is  a symbolic  and  kabbalistic 
animal,  combining  stupidity,  hypocrisy,  false  piety,  stupid 
patience,  and  ignorance.  Allusions  to  what  is  called 
by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  “the  ugly  central  fact  of 
donkeyism,”  constantly  occur  in  all  Bruno’s  works.  In 
the  Supper  of  Ashes,  while  speaking  in  praise  of  the 
binary  number,  Bruuo  says  (W.  i.  124),  “Two  are  the 
numbers  in  kind — odd  and  even,  whereof  the  one  is 
masculine,  the  other  feminine.  Of  two  sorts  are  the 
Cupids — superior  and  divine,  inferior  and  vulgar.  . . . 
Of  two  kind  are  the  asses — domestic  and  savage.” 

The  Candle-Bearer  (W.  i.  17)  opens  with  an  invocation 
“ in  the  name  of  the  blessed  tail  of  the  ass.”  “ I have 
seen,”  Bruno  says  (W.  ii.  232),  “the  monks  of  Castello  in 
Genoa  hold  up  the  tail  of  an  ass,  veiled,  for  the  people 
to  kiss,  crying,  ‘ Do  not  handle  it ; kiss  it.  This  is  the 
sacred  relic  of  that  blessed  ass  which  was  found  worthy 


24 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


to  carry  our  God  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  Jerusalem. 
Worship  it,  kiss  it,  and  make  your  offerings  to  it.’” 

(This  relic  is  mentioned  by  Henri  Estienne  in  his 
Apology  for  Herodotus  and  by  Calvin  in  his  Treatise  on 
Belies.  The  tail  of  Balaam’s  ass  was  preserved  at  the 
Church  of  St.  John  Lateran  in  Rome.  But  what  are  these 
objects  compared  to  the  coals  which  roasted  St.  Lawrence, 
three  of  which  in  Bruno’s  time  were  adored  in  three 
Roman  churches ; the  tablecloth  on  which  the  Lord’s 
Supper  was  celebrated — this  was  preserved  at  Userche 
in  Limousin ; a finger  of  the  glove  of  St.  Nicodemus, 
worshipped  in  Normandy;  and  the  lamp-oil  which  healed 
the  blind  before  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome  ?) 

The  Cabal  of  the  Pagasean  Horse,  with  its  sequel,  the 
Ass  of  Cyllene,  is  a complete  work  devoted  by  Bruno  to 
the  ass.  He  demands  (W.  ii.  295)  which  is  most  worthy, 
“an  asinine  man  or  a humanised  ass?”  and  the  “angelic 
ass  of  Balaam”  (W.  i.  216)  is  treated  with  the  humour  of 
Rabelais  or  of  Heine.  “ I have  never  seen  an  ass,”  writes 
the  latter,  alluding  in  a preface  to  the  story  of  Balaam, 
“ who  spake  as  a man,  though  I have  often  met  men  who, 
whenever  they  opened  their  mouths,  spake  as  asses.” 
When  in  the  Expulsion  Jove  is  about  to  reform  the 
constellations,  he  is  more  complimentary  to  the  symbol 
of  foolishness,  which  Bruno  exalts  to  the  skies.  “ I dare 
add  nothing,”  he  says,  “ to  the  spotless  majesty  of  those 
two  asses  which  shine  in  the  space  of  Cancer,  because 
chiefly  of  these  (both  by  justice  and  reason)  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  as  I shall  invincibly  demonstrate  by  most 
powerful  reasons  some  other  time,  for  I dare  not  now 
speak  of  such  an  important  matter.  But  I am  only 
grieved  and  vexed  that  these  two  divine  animals  have 
been  so  meanly  treated,  not  having  so  much  as  a house  of 
their  own  to  dwell  in,  but  are  glad  to  take  lodgings  of  a 
retrograde  aquatic  animal;  besides,  we  have  bestowed  on 
them  only  two  little  pitiful  stars  to  each  one,  and  these 
two  only  of  the  fourth  magnitude”  (W.  ii.  136). 


THE  NOAH’S  ARK,”  1566-72. 


25 


The  ass  is  treated  with  the  same  sardonic  humour  in 
the  Supper  of  Ashes.  “ Do  you  not  know  that  when 
the  son  of  Kish,  called  Saul,  went  seeking  the  asses,  he 
was  on  the  point  of  being  esteemed  worthy,  and  of  being 
appointed  king  of  the  Israelitish  people  ? Go,  go  and  read 
the  first  book  of  Samuel,  and  you  will  see  that  that  gentle 
personage  made  more  account  of  finding  his  asses  than 
of  being  anointed  king.  Hence  every  time  that  Samuel 
spoke  to  him  of  crowning  him,  he  replied  to  him,  ‘ And 
where  are  the  asses  ? the  asses,  where  are  they  ? my 
father  has  sent  me  to  find  the  asses,  and  do  you  not  wish 
that  I should  find  my  asses  ? ’ In  conclusion,  he  would 
not  be  quiet  until  the  prophet  told  him  that  the  asses  were 
found,  wishing  perhaps  to  hint  that  he  might  be  content 
with  having  that  kingdom,  which  was  equal  to  his  asses, 
and  even  more”  (W.  i.  144).  The  same  work  contains  (W. 
i.  149)  an  allusion  to  the  Noah’s  Ark.  “Dost  thou  not 
remember,  0 ISTolan,  that  which  is  written  in  thy  book 
entitled  the  Noah’s  Ark  ? How,  whilst  the  beasts  ranged 
themselves  in  order  that  they  might  allay  the  strife  born 
of  precedence,  in  what  danger  was  the  ass  of  losing  his 
pre-eminence,  which  consisted  in  his  taking  a seat  in 
the  poop  of  the  ark  ? ” (This  curious  expression  recurs 
(W.  ii.  278)  in  the  Cabal,  “ The  intelligence  which  is  the 
power  of  the  soul,  and  president  in  the  poop  of  the  soul.”) 
“ By  what  creatures  are  the  noblest  of  the  human  race 
represented  at  the  dreadful  day  of  judgment  if  it  is  not  by 
sheep  and  by  goats  ? ” 

It  will  be  easy  to  understand  how  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany fared  at  the  hands  of  the  Nolan,  since  he  supposes 
them  capable  of  submitting  to  the  rule  of  an  ass.  That 
this  book  could  have  been  dedicated  to  the  Pope  is  impos- 
sible. Pius  Y.  was  a Dominican ; rigid  and  inflexible  by 
nature,  he  was  made  doubly  rigid  and  inflexible  by  grace, 
which  had  called  him  to  his  high  estate.  He  sowed  such 
seeds  in  the  Church  as,  three  months  after  his  death, 
produced  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Himself  an 


26 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Inquisitor,  he  extended  to  his  own  people  the  merciless 
treatment  with  which  he  corrected  heretics,  saying,  “ He 
who  would  govern  must  begin  by  himself.”  Accordingly, 
he  had  the  courage  to  dissolve  the  debased  and  dissolute 
order  of  the  Umiliati,  and  his  very  look  was  believed  by 
the  Eoman  people  to  have  the  power  of  conversion.  He 
searched  not  only  into  present  but  into  past  errors  of 
belief,  and  sick  men  lay  neglected  on  their  beds  by  order 
of  the  Pope  if  they  did  not  make  confession  once  in  three 
days.  Monks  and  nuns,  bishops  and  archbishops,  received 
visitations  at  his  hands ; society,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  was  cleansed  and  renovated  by  him.  Carnesecchi, 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  first  Italian  movement  towards 
Protestantism,  was  delivered  up  in  fetters  to  the  Eoman 
Inquisition,  and  not  all  his  own  reputation  nor  his  con- 
nection with  royalty  could  save  him  from  the  stake. 
The  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  who,  as  he  himself  said,  “ had 
converted  many,  . . . and  had  no  other  object  than  the 
suppression  of  heresy,”  was  burnt  because  he  was  not 
orthodox  on  the  doctrine  of  justification.  One  auto-da-f6 
followed  another,  till  every  germ  of  heresy  was  crushed 
out.  It  was  Pius  V.  who  gave  a Catholic  leader  orders  to 
massacre  every  heretic  that  fell  into  his  hands.  The  Pope 
had  offered  to  pour  out  his  blood  and  his  treasure,  “ even 
to  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  Church,”  to  aid  the  Catholic 
cause.  Southern  Europe  was  banded  together  at  his 
instigation  against  the  Turks ; and  when  Lepanto  was 
won,  the  pious  Pope  was  shown  the  victory  in  a trance. 
Was  this  the  man  to  accept  the  dedication  of  Bruno’s 
book  ? Moreover,  the  monk  did  not  leave  his  convent  in 
the  odour  of  sanctity ; and  the  Papal  Inquisitors  needed 
little  to  put  them  on  his  track.  If  the  Noah’s  Ark 
was  in  reality  dedicated  to  the  Pope,  it  was  in  no  pro- 
pitiatory spirit,  such  as  prompts  Highlanders  to  speak  of 
the  “ kind  gallows ,”  or  Eomans  to  allude  to  the  Goddess 
Fortune  without  naming  her;  and  though  Bruno  might 
not  have  allowed  any  consideration  to  weigh  with  him 


THE  NOAH'S  ARK. 


27 


when  the  truth,  as  he  understood  it,  was  at  stake,  it  is 
certain  that  the  Pope  could  never  have  accepted  such  a 
work,  nor  is  it  probable  that  its  author  would  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  peaceably  in  Italy,  which,  as  a fact, 
he  did  not  quit  till  four  years  after  the  death  of  Pope 


( 28  ) 


CHAPTER  II. 

By  devout  prayer  that  Eternal  Spirit  can  enrich  with  all  utterance  and 
knowledge,  and  sends  out  his  Seraphim  with  the  hallowed  fire  of  his 
altar  to  touch  and  purify  the  lips  of  whom  He  pleases.” — Milton. 


Naples.  The  Florentine  Academy.  The  Trials  at  Naples  and  in 

Home.  Flight  from  Rome,  1576.  Genoa.  Noli.  The  Sphere. 

Bruno’s  Theory  of  the  Stars  and  Suns.  Turin.  Venice. 

Copernicus. 

The  wealthy  sea-board,  that  historic  shore  which  was 
soon  to  echo  with  the  triumph  of  Lepanto,  groaned  under 
the  Spanish  tyranny.  Alva,  who  did  not  scruple  to  drain 
Naples  of  blood  and  treasure  himself,  watched  the  en- 
croachment of  all  strangers  with  a jealous  eye,  and  during 
the  French  campaign  in  1556  observed  that  “he  had  no 
intention  to  stake  the  whole  kingdom  of  Naples  against  a 
brocaded  coat  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,”  adopting  therefore 
some  such  pacific  measures  as  those  of  another  Spanish 
governor  of  the  El  Dorado,  “ who,”  says  the  historian, 
“ conciliated  the  natives  by  seizing  the  chiefs,  chaining 
them  up,  shaving  their  heads,  putting  on  wigs  and 
doublets,  and  sending  them  forth  to  spread  civilisation 
in  the  country.” 

The  Viceroy  Granvelle  was  so  detested  in  the  Nether- 
lands that  the  state  papers  record  his  unpopularity ; and 
it  was  said  that  the  nobles  would  eat  him  alive  if  they 
caught  him.  In  1574  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Marquis 
de  Mondejar,  who  was  said  to  have  increased  eightfold  his 
patrimony  at  the  expense  of  Naples,  while  advancing 
each  of  his  seven  sons  in  military  and  ecclesiastical  pre- 


THE  VICEROYALTY  OF  NAPLES. 


29 


ferment.  “ This  new  Themistocles,”  wrote  Parrino,  “ was 
hated  in  Italy.”  The  Viceroys  at  this  time  had  orders  to 
take  no  steps  without  consulting  Don  John  of  Austria, 
who  was  in  garrison  at  Naples,  remaining  in  charge  of  the 
southern  coasts  until  1576,  when  he  left  to  assume  the 
government  of  the  Netherlands.  What  effect  could  such 
rulers  produce  on  a people  made  by  nature  for  luxury  and 
slavery  ? Capua  was  not  far  off ; the  loveliness  and  sloth 
of  Capua  were  in  the  air.  “ Do  not  desire,”  writes  Parrino, 
“the  viceroyalty  of  Naples;  to  leave  it  costs  us  dear.” 
Thus,  under  the  deadly  sway  of  Spain,  craft  supplanted 
virtue  and  piety  was  overridden  by  hypocrisy  and  fana- 
ticism. The  vices  of  a conquered  people  throve  in  a soil 
but  too  open  to  evil  influences.  No  career  was  open  to 
the  Italian  subjects  of  Spain  but  the  army,  the  magistracy, 
or  the  Church ; and  the  Church  was  too  often  chosen  as  a 
means  of  advancement  on  earth,  rather  than  as  an  unpre- 
judiced and  incorruptible  guide  to  heaven. 

The  people  of  Naples,  credulous  by  nature,  lent  them- 
selves to  the  bigotry  of  the  Government.  The  older 
monastic  orders  increased,  and  a swarm  of  new  orders 
appeared.  The  wealth  of  the  laity  changed  hands  and 
became  clerical,  or  made  its  way  to  Spain.  Two-thirds 
of  the  revenue  of  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
priests,  and  their  influence  ran  immoderately  high.  But 
the  powerful  and  ancient  University  of  Naples,  which  was 
founded  by  Frederick  II.,  stemmed  the  tide.  Distin- 
guished for  jurisprudence,  it  refused  its  prerogative  to  no 
learning ; and  under  its  fostering  care  so  many  academies 
sprang  up  that  they  were  at  length  forbidden  to  assemble 
by  the  Church. 

In  the  time  of  Bruno,  contemporary  historians  declared 
themselves  unable  to  count  the  poets  of  Italy.  Ippolito 
di  Medici  is  said  to  have  supported  a train  of  one  hundred 
poets.  “ Our  poets  are  more,”  says  Zerbo  (Lett,  di  Diversi, 
Venez,  1564,  iii.  90),  “ in  number  than  the  sands  of  the 
sea,  and  may  fairly  overtop  Parnassus.”  But  it  was  not 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


3° 

to  these  groundlings  that  Bruno  owed  any  of  his  remark- 
able qualities.  The  philosophic  genius  of  Plato  was  more 
to  the  taste  of  the  learned  than  the  “ subtle  metaphysics 
(W.  i.  p.  255)  of  the  divine  Aristotle,”  “whose  desire,” 
says  Dante,  “ is  given  evermore  for  grief.”  It  was  to  the 
influences  of  philosophy,  and,  above  all,  to  the  study  of 
Nature,  initiated  by  Porta  and  Telesio,  that  Bruno  owed 
his  individuality.  Of  Telesio  he  speaks  (W.  i.  250)  as 
“ one  full  of  judgment,  having  waged  an  honourable  war 
upon  Aristotle.”  The  Nolan  and  the  philosopher  of 
Cosenza  were  ardent  followers  of  the  science  of  Nature, 
but  in  method  they  were  radically  divided.  Telesio, 
though  the  opponent  of  Aristotle,  made  use  of  his  system ; 
Bruno  applied  himself  to  pure  reason  on  inductive  prin- 
ciples ; he  was,  moreover,  the  adherent  of  the  high-minded 
and  liberal  teaching  of  Plato.  At  that  time  the  two 
schools  of  philosophy  in  Italy  were  led  by  Plato  and 
Aristotle.  The  school  of  Plato  had  its  headquarters  in 
the  Academy  of  Florence,  and  spread  itself  southwards, 
its  ideas  advancing  with  its  march.  The  doctrine  of 
Aristotle  was  taught  by  Pomponaccio  and  others ; it  was 
propagated  in  Northern  Italy  by  the  universities  of  Bol- 
ogna, Pavia,  and  Padua.  It  attained  its  highest  develop- 
ment in  the  labour  of  Galileo. 

The  advance  of  what  may  be  called  spiritualism  was 
due  in  a great  measure  to  the  Platonism  of  the  Florentine 
Academy.  Thanks  to  the  labours  of  the  “ hearers  ” and 
the  “ novices,”  as,  with  some  pedantry,  the  members  were 
called,  and  under  favour  of  the  Medici,  the  stimulative 
qualities  of  the  imagination  came  into  play.  At  first  a 
natural  reaction  from  the  dusty  squabbles  of  the  schools, 
this  enthusiastic  and  poetic  erudition  soon  led  to  a love  of 
the  marvellous,  and  to  a fanciful  cry  for  inspiration,  which 
brought  about  the  downfall  of  the  society.  But  although 
its  light  was  at  last  quenched  in  the  midst  of  a dis- 
creditable mysticism,  the  Academy  did  not  expire  without 
leaving  its  mark  on  the  age.  Bruno  in  especial  owed 


THE  FLORENTINE  ACADEMY. 


3i 


much  to  the  Platonism  of  the  Florentines.  There  was  a 
similarity  between  his  doctrines  and  those  of  Pletho, 
whose  discourses  had  so  powerful  an  effect  upon  Cosmo  dei 
Medici,  that  he  established  an  academy  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  cultivating  this  new  and  more  elevated  species  of 
philosophy.  The  conferences  were  held  in  the  palace  of 
the  Medici  at  Florence,  or  in  their  sombre  villa  at  Careggi, 
and  the  teaching  spread  widely  in  Italy ; while,  with  the 
fickleness  that  was  characteristic  of  the  age,  Pletho,  after 
his  death,  was  declared  to  be  “ a dangerous  viper,”  and 
his  books  were  burnt,  a strange  comment  on  the  favour 
of  princes.  The  influence  of  his  belief,  that  the  stars 
have  souls,  that  the  world  is  eternal,  and  that  demons 
are  not  malignant  spirits,  may  be  traced  in  the  works  of 
Bruno.  Nor  was  he  unbiassed  by  the  teaching  of  Ficino, 
who,  half  a century  earlier,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Florentine  Academy.  An  imitator  of  the  Neo-Platonists, 
and  holding  that  all  the  philosophic  learning  of  antiquity 
centered  in  the  Alexandrian  schools,  Ficino  believed  that 
man  possesses  two  souls,  one  which  is  sensitive,  and  the 
other  intellectual — a divine  existence  breathed  into  man 
by  the  Creator.  The  sensitive  soul,  or  third  essence  of  the 
body,  is  inseparable  from  it,  and  is  subject  to  the  eternal 
transformations  of  matter.  The  Supreme  Being  is  Unity, 
into  which  the  intellectual  soul  can  be  drawn  by  a rapt 
ecstasy,  that  blessed  vision  of  the  Deity  which  was  granted 
to  Plotinus  and  Porphyry.  Perfection,  according  to  Ficino 
and  the  Neo-Platonists,  is  The  One,  and  as  God  is  in  his 
essence  one,  it  follows  that  he  is  Unity.  The  Creator 
could  not,  however,  stoop  from  his  high  estate  to  Nature. 
He  has  surrounded  his  throne  with  angels,  ministers,  and 
fostering  spirits,  by  whom  the  third  essences  are  created 
and  maintained.  Bruno  summarily  destroyed  this  fabric 
of  the  invention.  The  souls  of  Ficino,  the  third  essence, 
composing  and  figuring,  so  to  say,  rivers,  pebbles,  and 
interpenetrating  the  whole  structure  of  our  planet  in 
various  qualities  and  degrees, — these  varying  essences 


32 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


were  seized  and  united  by  Bruno  into  one,  which  he  called 
the  World-Soul,  and  which  he  believed  to  be  the  breath 
and  gift  of  God,  as  our  souls  are.  The  World-Soul  is  God 
pf  (,  and  Nature  at  the  same  time,  for  in  God  Nature  lives  and 
' a^6'  VV'  '*  moves  and  has  its  being,  as  man  does;  in  Nature  he  is 

manifested  by  infinite  ways  and  in  infinite  worlds,  know- 
ing neither  time  nor  space ; in  Nature  the  harmony  of 
Sfvw*evci.  oppositions  is  made  plain.  Thus  Bruno,  having  discovered 

a new  and  higher  unity,  gave  himself  up  to  the  living  power 
within  him,  declared  war  against  antiquity,  broke  through 
all  the  traditions  of  the  schools,  and  called  upon  men  to 
behold  in  Nature  the  image  and  superscription  of  its 
Maker. 

Into  the  still  seclusion  of  St.  Dominic  he  fell  like  a 
firebrand.  To  him  the  vows  of  obedience,  poverty,  and 
chastity  were  more  irksome  than  the  chivalrous  service  of 
courtesy,  loyalty,  bravery,  and  fidelity ; and  his  fantastic, 
restless,  and  indocile  nature  soon  asserted  itself.  In 
Naples,  it  appears  from  the  documents  (No.  vii.),  he  was 
twice  threatened  with  a trial,  first  for  having  given  away 
certain  figures  and  pictures  of  “ St.  Catherine  of  Siena, 
and  perhaps  of  St.  Anthony,”  after  retaining  the  crucifix 
only,  which  caused  him  to  be  thought  a despiser  of  the 
saints ; and  for  having  bidden  a novice,  who  was  reading 
the  history  of  the  Seven  Joys  of  the  Madonna  in  verse, 
to  throw  the  book  away,  and  to  read  some  other  book, 
such  as  the  lives  of  the  Holy  Fathers.  In  another 
document  (No.  xiii.)  this  evidence  is  repeated,  with  the 
addition,  that  it  was  the  master  of  the  novices  who  twice 
made  an  accusation  in  writing  against  Bruno,  but  that  the 
writing  was  destroyed.  The  matter  evidently  was  thought 
of  slight  moijnent,  or  Bruno  could  not  have  been  permitted 
to  enter  the  priesthood. 

As  soon  as.  Ke  became  a priest  he  seemed  to  have 
allowed  his  heretical  tendencies  the  upper-hand  of  his 
discretion.  A second  and  more  important  trial  was  the 
result.  “ I could  not  tell,”  he  says  (Doc.  xiii.),  “ upon 


FIRST  TRIAL  OF  BRUNO. 


33 

what  articles  they  proceeded  against  me,  except  that 
reasoning  one  day  with  Montalcino  (who  was  a brother 
of  our  order,  a Lombard),  in  the  presence  of  some  other 
fathers,  and  he  saying  that  these  heretics  were  ignorant  of 
the  language  of  the  schools,  I answered  that  although  they 
did  not  proceed  in  their  arguments  by  the  rules  of  logic, 
yet  they  declared  their  meaning  conveniently  and  in  the 
same  way  as  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  Holy  Church; 
giving  the  example  of  the  form  of  heresy  of  Arius,  of 
whom  the  scholastics  say  that  he  understood  the  genera- 
tion of  the  Son  by  the  act  of  Nature,  and  not  by  will;  and 
the  same  thing  is  said  in  other  words  by  St.  Augustine” 
(probably  book  vii.  of  St.  Augustine’s  work  De  Trinitate), 
“ namely,  ‘ that  the  Son  is  not  of  the  same  substance 
with  the  Father,  but  proceeding  from  his  will  like  other 
creatures ; ’ whereupon  those  fathers  fell  upon  me,  saying 
that  I defended  heretics,  and  that  I maintained  they  were 
learned  men.” 

It  is  clear,  however,  that  Bruno  leant  towards  the  Arian 
heresy.  “ That  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  born  of 
the  ever-blessed  Virgin  Mary,”  he  says  (Doc.  xiii.),  “I 
have  not  doubted,  . . . but  I have  doubted  the  Divine 
Incarnation,  . . . for  the  Divinity  being  by  nature  infinite 
(Doc.  xxviii.)  and  humanity  finite,  the  first  eternal  and 
the  latter  temporal,  it  did  not  appear  to  me  reasonable  . . . 
that  humanity  should  be  thus  joined  to  Divinity.” 

(Doc.  xii.) — “ As  for  the  Second  Person,  I say  that  I 
held  him  in  truth  to  be  one  in  essence  with  the  First,  and 
so  with  the  Third;  for  being  undivided  in  being,  they 
cannot  be  unequal,  because  all  the  attributes  of  the  Father 
belong  to  the  Son  also,  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  I have 
doubted  only  how  this  Second  Person  could  be  made  flesh 
and  suffer ; . . . hut  I have  declared  the  opinion  of  Arius  to 
appear  less  pernicious  than  it  was  esteemed  and  vulgarly 
understood  to  be,  . . . and  I declared  that  Arius  said  the 
Word  was  neither  Creator  nor  creature,  but  a medium 
between  the  Creator  and  the  creature,  as  the  Word  is  the 

c 


34 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


medium  between  the  speaker  and  the  hearer ; and  there- 
fore he  is  said  to  be  first  born  before  all  creatures,  not 
from  whom,  but  by  whom  all  things  were  created ; not  to 
whom,  but  by  whom  all  things  are  related,  and  return  to 
their  ultimate  end,  which  is  the  Father”  (Doc.  xi.) 

“ It  was  on  this  account,”  Bruno  adds  in  the  same 
document,  “that  I was  suspected”  (of  heresy),  “and  per- 
haps this,  among  other  things,  was  the  reason.  ...  I was 
first  tried  in  Naples”  (Doc.  xi.  pp.  28-29).  His  doubts 
seem  to  have  centred  on  the  actual  distinction  of  the 
Persons,  as  though  in  God  he  could  admit  no  distinction 
except  the  rational  and  logical  distinction  of  his  attributes. 
He  tells  his  judges  plainly  that  he  could  not  find  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  either  Testament.  He  seems  to 
have  held  these  opinions  firmly  from  his  eighteenth  year 
till  the  date  of  his  trial.  “ I do  not  understand,”  he  says 
(Doc.  xi.),  “ the  two  Persons  separate  from  the  Father.  . . . 
I hold  that  there  is  an  infinite  universe,  which  is  the  effect 
of  the  infinite  Divine  power ; for  I esteem  it  to  be  a thing 
unworthy  of  the  Divine  goodness  and  power  that,  being 
able  to  produce  another  world  than  this,  and  an  infinite 
number  of  others,  it  should  produce  a finite  world,  so  that 
I have  declared  there  are  infinite  individual  worlds  such 
as  this  earth,  which  I hold  with  Pythagoras  to  be  a planet 
similar  to  which  is  the  moon,  with  other  planets  and  other 
stars,  which  are  infinite  (Doc.  xi.  p.  26),  and  that  all  these 
bodies,  being  worlds  and  without  number,  constitute  the 
infinite  universality  in  an  infinite  space,  and  this  is  called 
the  infinite  universe,  in  which  are  innumerable  worlds ; 
so  that  there  is  a twofold  infinity — of  the  magnitude  of 
the  universe,  and  the  multitude  of  the  worlds.  Further, 
in  this  universe  I place  a universal  Providence,  by  virtue  of 
which  all  things  live,  grow,  move,  and  attain  perfection; 
and  I understand  it  in  two  ways — the  one  in  that  manner 
by  which  the  soul  is  present  in  the  body,  the  whole  of  the  soul 
in  all  the  body,  and  the  whole  in  each  and  every  part ; and 
this  I call  Nature,  the  shadow  and  trace  of  the  Divinity  ; the 


DOCTRINE  OF  THE  TRINITY. 


35 


other,  in  the  ineffable  manner  in  which  God  by  his  essence, 
presence,  and  power  is  in  all  and  above  all ; not  as  a part, 
not  as  a soul,  but  in  a manner  not  capable  of  being  made 
plain  to  the  understanding. 

“ Next,  in  the  Divinity,  with  the  theologians  and  greater 
philosophers,  I understand  all  the  attributes  to  be  one.  I 
understand  three  attributes,  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness, 
or  mind,  intellect,  and  love ; so  that  all  things  have  first, 
their  being  by  reason  of  mind,  then  their  order  and  distinct 
succession  by  reason  of  intellect,  then  their  concord  and 
symmetry  by  reason  of  love,  . . . which  I hold  to  be  in 
all  and  above  all ; as  nothing  is  without  partaking  of  being, 
and  being  is  not  without  the  essence  of  being ; as  nothing 
is  beautiful  without  the  presence  of  beauty,  so  nothing  can 
be  without  the  Divine  Presence,  and  in  this  manner,  by  the 
way  of  reason  and  not  by  the  way  of  substantial  truth,  I 
understand  distinction  in  the  Divinity.  . . . 

“ Then  with  regard  to  matters  of  faith,  ...  to  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  Divine  Persons,  to  that  Wisdom  and  that 
Son  of  the  mind  called  by  philosophers  the  Intellect,  and 
by  theologians  the  Word,  who  we  are  to  believe  took  upon 
him  our  flesh,  I place  myself  within  the  bounds  of  philo- 
sophy, and  I have  not  understood  this  matter,  but  have 
doubted,  holding  it  with  inconstant  faith,  though  I do  not 
remember  to  have  given  signs  (of  doubt)  in  writing,  or 
by  word  of  mouth,  except  indirectly ; . . . and  I have  not 
been  able  to  comprehend  the  Third  Person  and  Divine 
Spirit  as  I ought,  but  in  the  manner  of  the  Pythagoreans  and 
of  Solomon,  who  says  in  the  Book  of  Wisdom  ” (c.  i.  v.  7), 
“ ‘ The  Spirit  of  God  filled  the  round  earth  and  all  that  is 
in  it;’  or  as  Yirgil  explained  the  doctrine  of  the  Pytha- 
goreans in  the  text  of  the  iEneid  ” (B.  vi.  ver.  724),  “ and 
from  this  Spirit,  which  is  called  the  Life  of  the  Universe, 
in  my  philosophy  I understand  all  life  to  flow,  and  the 
souls  of  all  things  which  have  life  and  a soul ; and  this  I 
understand  is  immortal,  there  being  no  death,  but  division 
and  congregation ; which  doctrine  I understand  by  a pas- 


3* 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


sage  in  Ecclesiastes,  which  says,  ‘ There  is  no  new  tiling 
under  the  sun ; . . . the  thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that 
which  shall  be ; and  that  which  is  done  is  that  which  shall 
be  done.  ’ ” 

For  these,  and  similar  discordant  opinions,  the  second 
trial  was  instituted  by  the  Church.  The  accuser  was  no 
longer  the  master  of  the  novices,  but  the  provincial  of  the 
order,  Fra  Domenico  Yita  (Doc.  x.)  It  was  either  in 
1575  or  early  in  the  year  1576,  when  Bruno  was  once 
more  in  the  monastery  at  Naples,  that  the  doubt  which 
had  tinged  the  mind  of  the  novice  became  negation  in 
the  monk.  (Further  evidence  is  yielded  by  the  oration 
delivered  by  him  in  1589  at  Helmstedt  on  the  death  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  in  which  Bruno  says  that  he 
abandoned  his  country  lest  he  should  be  compelled  “ to 
submit  to  a superstitious  religion.”) 

The  counts  against  him  reached  one  hundred  and  thirty, 
according  to  the  evidence  of  his  accuser,  Mocenigo,  the 
Venetian  patrician,  given  in  the  first  document  of  the  last 
and  fatal  trial  at  Venice.  The  old  matter  of  the  images 
was  revived,  and  fearing  he  should  be  cast  into  prison 
(Doc.  xiii.),  Bruno  fled  from  Naples,  which  he  was  never  to 
see  again,  and  sought  refuge  in  Borne  in  a convent  of  his 
order,  without,  so  far  as  appears  from  his  words,  any  pre- 
sentiment of  the  lurking  shadow  of  death  into  which  he 
was  to  enter  on  that  spot  at  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage. 
“The  year  following  the  year  of  the  Jubilee1  I was  in 
Borne  in  the  convent  of  Minerva  (under  obedience  to 
Maestro  Sisto  da  Luca,  procurator  of  the  order),  whither 
I went  to  present  myself  because  I was  proceeded  against 
twice  at  Naples,  . . . and  the  suit  was  renewed  when  I 
went  to  Borne,  with  other  articles  which  I do  not  know ; 
for  which  reason  I left  the  religious  life,  and  putting  off  the 
habit,  I went  to  Noli  in  the  Genoese  territory”  (Doc.  viii.) 

Mocenigo,  the  friend  who  betrayed  Bruno  into  the 


1 1576.  The  Jubilee  was  celebrated  in  1575. 


THE  SECOND  TRIAL  OF  BRUNO. 


37 


hands  of  the  Inquisition,  accuses  the  monk  of  having 
thrown  his  accuser  into  the  Tiber,  and  says  that  he  fled 
away  before  taking  his  trial ; but  as  no  other  evidence  of 
this  story  is  forthcoming,  it  is  probably  worthless. 

The  evidence  continues : “ I fled  from  Eome  because  I 
had  letters  from  Naples,  and  was  warned  that  upon  my 
departure  from  Naples  there  had  been  discovered  certain 
books  of  the  works  of  St.  Chrysostom  and  of  St.  Jerome, 
with  the  forbidden  commentaries  of  Erasmus,  which  I 
had  used  secretly,  and  I had  thrown  them  awTay  into 
a private  place  when  I left  Naples,  lest  they  should  be 
found;  . . . but  I have  never  abjured  either  publicly  or 
privately,  whether  for  these  proceedings  or  for  any  other 
cause ; nor  have  I at  any  time  appeared  before  any  other 
tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office.” 

The  fugitive  monk,  casting  aside  his  frock  and  aban- 
doning  his  name  in  religion,  left  Eome  secretly,  and  sought 
refuge  in  the  territory  of  Genoa,  remaining  there,  accord- 
ing to  his  historian  Berti,  for  three  days  only,  in  1576. 
Sigwart,  however,  accepts  the  date  with  diffidence  (Die 
Lebensgeschichte  Giordano  Bruno’s,  Tubingen,  1880,  p.  8). 
Under  the  Doge  Prospero  Fattinanti,  in  1574,  disturbances 
had  broken  out  between  the  rival  factions  of  the  old  and 
the  new  nobles,  supposed  to  be  secretly  fomented  by 
agents  of  France.  The  king  of  Spain  felt  his  interests 
as  protector  of  the  Eepublic  to  be  compromised,  and  Don 
John  of  Austria  was  dispatched  from  his  neighbouring 
garrison  at  Naples  to  quiet  and  overlook  the  town.  He 
placed  himself  on  the  watch  at  Vigevano,  and  was  there, 
with  some  brief  intervals,  from  April  1574  till  the  early 
spring  of  1576,  when  a brief  outburst  of  civil  war  cleared 
the  air  and  was  followed  by  peace. 

The  lands  of  the  Eepublic  of  Genoa  were  kept  intact  by 
the  jealousy  of  its  neighbours,  who  by  carefully  checking 
each  other’s  depredations  guarded  the  citizens  from  all 
encroachment.  Its  territory  stretched  from  Monaco  to 
Sarzana,  a distance  of  about  a hundred  and  fifty  miles. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


33 

In  theory  it  was  a republic ; but  it  presented  the  singular 
aspect  of  a republic  with  a crowned  head  and  a body 
of  nobles.  The  Golden  Book  of  Genoa  contained  the 
names  of  a powerful  and  splendid  aristocracy,  who,  en- 
sconced in  their  towers  on  the  close  Mediterranean  bays, 
carried  on  the  work  of  pirates.  This  they  nominally 
directed  against  Turks,  Venetians,  and  other  enemies  of 
Genoa,  but  they  were  not  nice  in  discriminating  between 
foreign  flags  and  that  of  their  .own  people  when  a 
personal  enemy  fell  in  their  way.  Factions  ran  high. 
Interminable  feuds  between  Bampini  and  Mascherati, 
between  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  led  at  last  to  con- 
stant fighting  between  the  nobles  and  the  people  ; the  first 
being  tyrannous  and  quarrelsome,  and  their  subjects  surly 
and  impatient  of  control.  Foreigners  were  waylaid  and 
stabbed  : foreign  soldiers  were  maltreated  and  besieged 
in  their  homes ; the  people  flew  to  arms  and  fought  in  the 
streets  on  the  slightest  provocation.  In  1525  the  Genoese 
rabble  had  hooted  Francis  I.  when  he  rode  into  their  city 
after  the  battle  of  Pavia,  his  fallen  grandeur  represented  by 
long  files  of  Spanish  guards ; and  this  jealousy  of  foreigners 
ran  so  high  that  in  1574  a decree  was  issued  forbidding 
them  as  well  as  the  citizens  of  Genoa  to  appear  armed  in 
the  streets  ; upon  which  the  contentious  populace  collected 
in  the  town,  called  on  their  powerful  and  warlike  neigh- 
bours for  help,  and  stood  at  bay,  while  Don  John  of  Austria 
kept  watch  in  the  interests  of  Spain,  and  whiled  away  the 
time  with  learning  dancing  and  assisting  at  tournaments. 

The  legate  of  the  Pope  and  the  ambassadors  of  France 
and  Spain  had  retired  to  Casale  to  consult  on  a reform  of 
the  Genoese  statutes,  and  meanwhile  the  town  was  lacerated 
by  internal  dissension  and  ravaged  by  a pestilence.  A 
story  is  told  by  Bacon  of  a Prince  of  Orange  who,  being 
dangerously  wounded  by  a Spanish  boy,  could  find  no 
means  to  staunch  the  blood  but  by  men’s  thumbs,  succeed- 
ing one  another  for  the  space  of  two  days,  and  at  last  the 
blood  retired.  Much  the  same  process  was  applied  by  the 


NOLI,  1576. 


39 


three  potentates  in  attendance  on  the  hills  of  Genoa,  and 
by  their  united  efforts  the  blood  shed  in  the  city  was 
stopped  and  order  at  last  restored. 

Meanwhile  Bruno,  whose  living  depended  on  such  peace- 
ful and  scholarly  appliances  as  a printing-press,  a book- 
seller, and  a good  school  in  which  to  teach,  withdrew  from 
the  scene  of  dissension  to  Noli,  a little  town  on  the  coast, 
seven  miles  from  Savona  and  four  from  Finale.  Noli 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  which  bears  its  name,  im- 
prisoned between  two  mountain  chains,  which  end  on  one 
side  with  the  Capo  di  Yado,  and  on  the  other  with  the 
singular  rocky  peak  of  the  Capo  di  Noli.  The  town  is 
surrounded  by  fine  old  walls  crowned  with  towers,  and  it 
still  contains  a church  founded  in  the  eighth  century,  with 
other  monuments  of  that  youth  of  the  world  which  is 
called  antiquity.  One  of  those  happy  cities  which  has  no 
history,  Noli  remained  free  and  prosperous,  paying  five 
sequins  a year  for  protection  to  its  great  neighbour  Genoa, 
and  preserved  for  ever  from  oblivion  by  Dante  {Purgatory , 
canto  iv.),  who,  in  the  spirit,  had  descended  the  craggy 
hill  to  the  rift  in  which  the  little  city  is  situated.  Three 
centuries  later,  Bruno,  coming  probably  by  water,  the 
cheapest  way,  arrived  in  the  town,  and  supported  himself 
“ by  teaching  grammar  to  the  boys  and  reading  the  sphere 1 
(astronomy)  with  certain  gentlemen”  (Doc.  viii.-ix.),  re- 
maining in  this  humble  office  four  or  five  months. 

The  sphere,  as  it  was  technically  called  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  while  dealing  with  a science  which,  so  far  as  we 
know,  is  without  limits  or  termination,  did  its  best  to 
supply  both  to  the  universe.  The  earth  was  supposed  to 
stand  still  in  the  core  or  centre  of  a moving  crystal  sphere, 
as  a fly  might  hang  in  a bottle,  receiving  circular  motion 
from  without.  The  heavens  were  held  to  be  round  like 
the  earth,  because  the  circle  is  a perfect  figure,  having 

1 “ My  dear  brother,”  Sir  Philip  If  you  do,  I care  little  for  any  more 
Sydney  writes  to  his  brother  Robert,  astronomy  in  you.” — Zonch's  Me- 
“ I think  you  understand  the  sph&e.  moirs  of  Sir  P.  Sidney,  p.  171. 


40 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


neither  beginning  nor  end,  and  also  because  of  all  bodies, 
the  sphere,  as  containing  the  greatest  volume  in  relation 
to  its  circumference,  can  support  the  greatest  number  of 
living  creatures.  To  this  was  allotted  “the  best  of  all 
possible  motions,  the  motion  of  uniform  circular  rotation.” 
This  immense  ball  in  the  inner  part  of  heaven  was  sur- 
rounded by  nine  or  ten  zones  of  transparent  crystal, 
forming  so  many  hollow  spheres  or  layers ; in  these  the 
earth  wras  fixed  like  a tulip-root  in  its  outer  surrounding 
envelopes.  The  whole  of  these  were  supposed  to  roll  in 
a mass  from  east  to  west  round  an  axis  passing  through 
the  centre  of  the  earth  ; the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  seven 
planets,  each  in  its  separate  enclosure  of  celestial  spheres, 
had  a contrary  motion  to  that  of  the  earth ; but  such 
obscurity  and  contradiction  were  caused  by  these  inven- 
tions that  other  inventions,  called  “inequalities,”  we®e 
resorted  to  to  make  things  plain,  on  which  fresh  diffi- 
culties arose.1 

Such  were  the  views  prevailing  at  the  time  of  Bruno. 
Bounded  on  the  teaching  of  Aristotle,  they  were  embodied 
by  one  Sacrobosco,  an  Englishman,  in  a primer  on  astro- 
nomy which  was  commonly  received  in  all  schools 
( [Sphcera  Mundi,  ist  edit.,  Eerrara,  1472;  Venice,  1490; 
Wittemberg,  1540,  preface  by  Melanchthon;  Leyden, 
1626). 

Even  thus  early  in  his  career  Bruno’s  teaching  must 
have  differed  widely  from  that  in  vogue.  “ The  eartli 
moves,”  he  says;  “it  turns  on  its  own  axis  and  it  moves 
round  the  sun.”  A truth  which  is  now  the  common 
property  of  every  school-child  was  then  the  battle-cry  of 
progress,  and  Aristotle,  “the  familiar  spirit  of  Nature,”  as 
he  is  called  by  Bruno,  “ the  butcher  ( carnefice ) of  the 
other  divine  philosophers  ” (W.  ii.  403),  was  at  the  head 
of  the  opposition. 

1 So  opposed  were  these  inven-  “Had  the  Creator  of  the  universe 
tions  to  Nature,  that,  on  learning  sought  my  advice  the  world  would 
the  Aristotelian  scheme  of  the  zones  be  maintained  in  better  order.” 

King  Alphonso  of  Castile  exclaimed, 


THEORY  OF  THE  EARTH. 


4i 


A complete  break  with  the  Church  was  the  only  possible 
result.  Extremes  meet ; and  the  boy  who  began  his  career 
as  a monk,  burning  with  the  fervour  of  mysticism  and 
seeking  in  the  convent  that  peace  which  the  world  cannot 
give,  rebelled  against  the  fetters  in  which  his  reason  was 
placed  by  the  Church.  Passionate  and  enthusiastic  in  his 
search  for  truth,  he  smarted  under  the  indignity  of  beholding 
his  country-people  adore  the  tail  of  a donkey  at  Gastello, 
or  sit  in  congress  to  decide  whether  a mouse  which  had  de- 
voured the  Sacrament  was  to  be  killed  or  to  be  worshipped. 
Added  to  these  minor  causes  of  discontent,  the  falsity  of 
the  Aristotelian  scheme  of  the  universe  filled  him  with 
contempt  and  incredulity,  and  finally  sapped  his  allegiance 
to  Catholicism.  The  movement  of  the  earth  was  an  essen- 
tial necessary  truth;  and  with  Bruno,  to  feel  truth  and 
to  proclaim  it  were  one.  Space  alone,  he  says,  is  destitute 
of  all  power,  virtue,  and  operation.  Movement  is  a sove- 
reign law  of  the  universe.  Why  deny  it  to  the  earth  ? 
Despising  “ the  vile  imagination  of  the  figure  of  the  sphere 
and  the  diversity  of  heavens”  (W.  ii.  8),  he  taught  that  the 
earth  is  of  the  same  matter  and  form  as  the  other  stars ; 
every  created  thing  which  moves  and  lives  constitutes  a 
living  being ; a star  performing  its  appointed  course  in  the 
heavens  with  wisdom  and  exactitude  holds  the  rank  of  an 
intelligent  being.  (This  was  the  view  of  Plato,  who,  in  his 
Timceus,  says  that  the  world  is  an  animal ; and  Aroltaire, 
repeating  the  words  of  Plato,  adds,  “ Thus  the  nature  of 
this  immense  animal,  which  is  called  the  world,  is  eternal.”) 
“ The  earth,”  says  Bruno  ( Infinity , dialogue  iii.),  “ is  no 
more  heavy  than  the  other  elements ; all  the  parts  and 
particles  are  moved  and  change  place  and  disposition,  as 
do  the  blood,  humours,  spirits,  and  insensible  particles 
which  perpetually  flow  in  and  out  of  us  and  in  the  other- 
lesser  animals.  . . . These  globes  are  sustained  by  infinite 
ether,  in  which  this  our  animal  freely  runs  and  keeps  to 
his  prescribed  course,  as  the  rest  of  the  stars  do  to  theirs.” 
And  in  another  place  he  speaks  of  “those  sensible  com- 


42 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


X 


Jb/UK' 


pounded  bodies,  which  are  so  many  animals  or  worlds  in 
this  spacious  field  called  air  or  sky.”  The  life  of  these 
vast  worlds  Bruno  holds  to  be  (W.  i.  1 66)  “not  only 
capable  of  sensation,  but  intellectual ; not  only  intel- 
lectual, as  ours  is,  but  perhaps  in  a higher  degree.”  The 
stars  are  “those  sons  of  God  (W.  i.  174)  who  shouted  for 
joy  at  the  creation ; the  flaming  heralds,  his  ministers, 
and  the  ambassadors  of  his  glory  ” (W.  i.  1 30).  And  later 
he  writes,  “ There  are  innumerable  worlds  like  ours,  throned 
and  sphered  amidst  the  ether,  and  pursuing  a course  in 
heaven  like  ours ; and  they  are  called  . . . runners,  am- 
bassadors, messengers  of  Nature,  a living  mirror  of  the 
infinite  Deity,  . . . having  the  principle  of  intrinsic 
motion,  their  own  nature,  their  own  soul,  their  own 
intelligence.  . . . For  it  is  right  and  convenient  for  them- 
selves, and  for  the  effect  of  the  most  perfect  cause,  that 
the  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies  should  be  natural  and 
l from  within.” 

The  stars  are  “ a living  mirror  of  the  Infinite  Deity,” 
not  the  Deity  itself ; they  are  “ the  effect  of  the  most  per- 
fect cause ; ” their  souls  are  in  his  as  our  souls  are  ; and 
they  are  to  be  understood  as  distinct  from  “ the  outer  up- 
holder and  providence”  (W.  ii.  66),  by  whom  they  are 
preserved  from  dissolution.  “ By  this  knowledge  we  are 
loosened  from  the  chains  of  a most  narrow  dungeon,  and 
set  at  liberty  to  rove  in  a most  august  empire,”  he  writes 
(W.  ii.  14);  “we  are  removed  from  presumptuous  boun- 
daries and  poverty  to  the  innumerable  riches  of  an  infinite 
space,  of  so  worthy  a field  and  of  such  beautiful  worlds.  . . . 
Thus  the  excellency  of  God  is  magnified  and  the  grandeur 
of  his  empire  made  manifest.  . . . This  is  that  philosophy 
which  opens  the  senses,  which  satisfies  the  mind,  which 
enlarges  the  understanding,  and  which  leads  man  to  the 
only  true  beatitude,  . . . for  it  frees  him  from  the  solici- 
tous pursuit  of  pleasure  and  from  the.  anxious  apprehen- 
sions of  pain,  . . . seeing  that  everything  is  subject  to  a 
most  good  and  efficient  cause.” 


THEORY  OF  THE  SUNS  AND  STARS. 


43 


If,  therefore,  the  universe  is  infinite,  why  place  the 
earth  at  its  centre  ? The  sun,  the  “ father  of  life  ” (W.  xi./ 
51),  is  the  centre  of  our  world;  but  the  centre  of  the  1 
infinite  universe  is  in  all  things.  “ The  motion  of  this  ‘ 
starry  earth  in  which  we  dwell  is  caused  by  (W.  ii.  51) 
its  own  intrinsic  principle,  its  proper  soul  and  nature,  . . . 
and  it  makes  its  revolution  about  the  sun  and  about  its 
own  centre ; which,  if  we  rightly  understand,  will  open 
the  door  of  the  intelligence  to  the  true  principles  of 
natural  things,  and  we  shall  march  swiftly  by  the  way  of 
truth,  hidden,  since  this  cloudy  night  of  sophistry  followed 
upon  the  day  of  antique  wisdom,  beneath  the  veil  ” — (here 
Bruno  uses  the  words  of  Dante,  Inf.  ix.  60,  “ laquale  ^ 
ascosa  sotto  il  velame  di  tante  . . . immaginazione  ”) — 

“ of  sordid  and  bestial  imaginations,  and  concealed  by 
the  injury  of  time  and  by  vicissitude.” 

“ Of  these  stars  ( Acrotismus  97,  p.  25)  none  is  in  the 
middle  (although  the  Church  and  Ptolemy  have  taught 
that  our  earth  is  the  centre  of  all  things),  but  the  uni- 
verse is  immeasurable  in  all  its  parts.”  “For  the  centre 
of  the  universe  is  neither  the  sun  ” (C.  4,  X.  Articuli,  Art. 
160)  “ nor  in  the  sun,  neither  the  earth  nor  in  the  earth, 
nor  in  any  place  whatever.”  “ Every  being  is  its  own 
centre,  around  which  it  moves  ” ( I)c  Immenso,  book  vii. 
p.  600).  “ Therefore  there  are  as  many  centres  as  there 

are  worlds  and  stars,  and  these  in  number  are  in- 
finite.” “They,”  the  worlds,  “are  free  in  space”  (G-fr. 

14,  159),  “attracting  each  other,  and  moving  by  their  ^ 
own  inward  spiritual  power.”  (“  The  great  law  of  FTature 
which  regulates  the  movement  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
is  the  law  of  attraction.” — Professor  Ball,  Meeting  of  the 
British  Association,  Canada,  1884.)  “Lift  up  thy  soul 
from  this  earth  to  the  stars  and  worlds,  and  learn  to 
understand  that  in  all  places  there  . . . are  the  same 
order,  the  same  form,  the  same  movement.  Only  one 
bereft  of  his  reason  could  believe  that  those  infinite 
spaces  tenanted  by  vast  and  magnificent  bodies,  many  of 


44 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


which,  are  certainly  intrusted  with  a higher  destiny  than 
ours,  are  designed  only  to  give  us  light  or  to  receive  the 
clear  shining  of  the  earth.” 1 “ It  is  not  reasonable  (Gfr. 

384)  to  believe  that  any  part  of  the  world  is  without  a 
soul,  life,  sensation,  and  organic  structure,  and  it  is  as 
{foolish  to  believe  that  there  are  no  beings,  nor  minds,  nor 
possibilities  of  thought  beyond  the  objects  of  our  own 
^senses.” 

We  pass  now  into  the  province  of  conjecture.  The 
suns  are  inhabited,  as  well  as  the  surrounding  earths 
(W.  ii.  54);  “the  fixed  stars,  those  magnificent  flaming 
bodies  (W.  i.  234),  are  inhabited  worlds  and  most  excel- 
lent powers,  which  seem  and  are  innumerable  worlds,  not 
greatly  unlike  the  world  in  which  we  live.”  “ The  sun  ” 
(Gfr.  379),  “ our  nearest  fixed  star,  is  of  a certainty  a more 
divine  organism  than  our  earth  ; but  how  and  in  what 
manner,  it  is  not  within  our  province  to  discover  : in  any 
case,  its  conditions  of  life  are  different  to  ours.”  And 
[under  no  circumstances  are  we  to  believe  that  the  matter 
of  our  organic  substance  can  give  rise  to  one  and  to  no 
other  kind  of  life.  “ Reason  would  have  us  know  ” (Gfr. 
384)  “ that  the  sun  surpasses  us,  and  that  as  it  is  a dwell- 
ing-place full  of  glory,  so  the  life  within  it  infinitely 
excels  all  forms  of  life  on  earth.”  From  this  infinite  All, 
full  of  beauty  and  splendour,  from  the  vast  worlds  which 
circle  above  us  to  the  sparkling  dust  of  stars  beyond,  the 
conclusion  is  drawn  that  there  are  an  infinity  of  creatures, 
a vast  multitude  which,  each  in  its  degree,  mirrors  forth 
the  splendour,  wisdom,  and  excellence  of  the  Divine 
beauty  (W.  ii.  361-398).  Beyond  these,  again,  there  may 
be,  and  no  doubt  there  are,  an  infinity  of  wouders  which 
the  mind  of  man  is  not  able  to  conceive  ( Be  Immenso, 
635),  “the  scope  and  final  cause  of  the  whole  being  the 
perfection  of  the  universe”  (W.  i.  237). 

1 “ Who  has  persuaded  man,”  says  motion  of  the  infinite  sea,  were 
Montaigne,  “ that  this  admirable  established  and  have  continued  for 
towering  celestial  vault,  the  eternal  so  many  centuries  for  his  use  and 
light  of  those  proud  torches  which  service  ? ” 
are  above  our  heads,  the  terrible 


THEORY  OF  INFINITY. 


45 


The  solar  system  was  cleansed  from  the  cobwebs  of 
scholasticism  by  Copernicus,  for  whom  Bruno  had  a pro- 
found admiration  ( Oratio  Vciledic.,  W.  i.  127;  De  Mon., 
327),  although  he  affirmed  that  the  Copernican  system 
was  more  concerned  with  mathematics  than  Nature  (i. 
127),  and  Copernicus  “ a geometrician  rather  than  a philo- 
sopher” (De  Immenso,  343).  But  in  espousing  the  new 
doctrines  Bruno  added  to  them,  surpassing  his  master 
in  boldness  and  vigour  of  thought.  The  centre,  which 
Copernicus  believed  to  be  immovable  and  in  the  sun, 
Bruno  placed  in  sun  after  sun,  even  in  the  outermost 
parts  of  the  universe  and  in  infinity.  And  perhaps  his 
greatest  achievement  lies  in  his  application  of  the  dis- 
coveries of  Copernicus  and  his  extension  of  them  to  the 
whole  of  the  universe.  “ Space,”  he  says,  “ is  not  in 
heaven;  heaven  is  in  space”  (Gfr.  65).  “Space  is  one 
and  infinite  in  continuity”  (Gfr.  74).  “This  philosophy” 
(W.  i.  175)  “not  only  contains  the  truth,  but  favours  reli- 
gion more  than  any  other  kind  of  philosophy.”  Moreover, 
he  was  the  first  to  teach  that  the  sun  turns  on  its  own 
axis  (. De  Immenso,  305),  that  the  earth  is  flattened  at  the 
poles ; he  insisted  that  the  atmosphere  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  earth  (ib.  433),  and  that  all  the  fixed  stars  are  suns 
(Gfr.  24),  having  their  own  system  of  visible  and  invisible 
planets  (De  Immenso,  166).  The  cold  stars  or  planets 
require  the  warmth  of  the  suns ; the  suns  in  their  turn 
require  the  coolness  and  dewy  refreshment  yielded  by  the 
earths ; and  thus  mutually  sustained  and  cherished,  they 
pursue  their  course  and  set  forth  the  glory  of  their  Divine 
Master.  This  is  scarcely  the  place  in  which  to  speak  of 
the  doctrine  of  evolution,  first  foreshadowed  by  him ; of 
his  theory  of  instinct,  which  is  fully  borne  out  by  modern 
science  ; and  of  his  appreciation  of  the  purely  phenomenal 
value  of  the  senses.  He  holds  the  universe  to  be  infinite 
and  boundless  (senza  margine,  W.  i.  268).  “ If,”  he  says 

(De  Immenso,  14),  “ in  the  eyes  of  God  there  is  but  one 
scarry  globe;  if  the  sun  and  moon  and  all  creation  are 


46 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


made  for  the  good  of  the  earth  and  for  the  welfare  of 
man,  humanity  may  he  exalted,  but  is  not  the  Godhead 
abased  ? Is  not  this  to  straiten  and  confine  his  provi- 
dence ? What ! is  a feeble  human  creature  the  only 
object  worthy  of  the  care  of  God  ? dSTo  ; the  earth  is  but 
a planet ; the  rank  she  holds  among  the  stars  is  by 
usurpation ; it  is  time  to  dethrone  her.  The  ruler  of  our 
earth  is  not  man,  but  the  sun,  with  the  life  which  breathes 
in  common  through  the  universe.  Let  the  earth  eschew 
privilege ; let  her  fulfil  her  course  and  obey.  Let  not 
this  contemplation  dispirit  man,  as  if  he  thought  himself 
abandoned  by  God ; for  in  extending  and  enlarging  the 
universe  he  is  himself  elevated  beyond  measure,  and  his 
intelligence  is  no  longer  deprived  of  breathing  space 
beneath  a sky,  meagre,  narrow,  and  ill-contrived  in  its 
proportions.  And  better  still ; if  God  is  everywhere 
present  in  the  whole  of  the  world,  filling  it  with  his 
infinity,  and  with  his  immeasurable  greatness ; if  there 
is  in  reality  an  innumerable  host  of  suns  and  stars,  what 
of  the  foolish  distinction  between  the  heaven  and  the 
earth  ? Dwellers  in  a star,  are  we  not  comprehended 
within  the  celestial  plains  and  established  in  the  very 
precincts  of  heaven  ? ” The  infinite  in  extension,  the 
infinite  in  the  universe,  this  is  the  Ultima  Thule  (W.  i. 
128)  of  the  philosopher  of  Nola. 

After  four  or  five  months  spent  in  this  revolutionary 
teaching,  Bruno  left  Noli  for  Savona,  where  he  remained 
a fortnight  (Doc.  ix.)  Then  making  his  way  towards  the 
Alps,  he  went  to  “ the  metropolis  of  Piedmont,  the  deli- 
cious city  of  Turin”  (W.  ii.  218). 

At  that  moment  Turin  was  free  from  pestilence  ; under 
the  sage  administration  of  Emanuel  Eiliberto,  it  was 
unravaged  by  war,  industry  and  the  arts  flourished,  and 
the  schools,  which  had  undergone  a complete  reform,  were 
earning  justly  merited  laurels.  But  it  was  an  inhospit- 
able town.  Tasso,  when  he  presented  himself  at  its  doors, 
poor  and  in  misery,  his  clothes  dilapidated,  and  fever 


“OF  THE  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES ,”  1577. 


47 


burning  in  bis  veins,  was  driven  away,  and  taken  for  one 
suffering  with  the  plague ; and  it  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  he  could  obtain  a morsel  of  bread.  The 
contrast  between  the  poets  was  remarkable  enough,  for 
the  one  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity  and  the  other  at  the 
hands  of  the  Inquisition ; but  in  this  at  least  their  fortunes 
met.  Bruno,  not  finding  “ entertainment  ” to  his  satisfac- 
tion,  quitted  Turin  at  once,  and  went  by  thePo  to  Venice. 

Under  his  baptismal  name  of  Filippo  he  took  a lodging 
in  the  Frezzaria  with  a person  employed  at  the  arsenal. 
A visitation  of  the  plague  had  begun  in  Venice  in  August 
1 575,  and  though  ending  in  December  of  that  year,  it  re- 
appeared in  the  spring  of  1576,  and  raged  until  the  win- 
ter, having  carried  off  forty  thousand  people.  It  is  scarcely 
likely  that  Bruno,  however  high  his  courage,  would  have 
addressed  himself  to  a plague-stricken  city  in  order  to 
gain  a living  either  by  teaching  or  writing.  The  schools 
in  time  of  .plague  were  closed,  the  printing-presses  ceased 
their  labours,  and  few  booksellers  cared  to  remain  and 
drive  a trade  depending  on  luxury  and  leisure  for  support. 
Moreover  he  says,  “ While  I was  in  Venice  I caused  (Doc. 
ix.)  a small  book  to  be  printed,  entitled  Of  the  Signs  of 
the  Times,  and  I had  it  printed  in  order  to  gather  together 
a little  money  for  my  sustenance.”  Flow,  in  time  of 
plague,  war,  or  commercial  distress,  the  traffic  in  pictures 
is  among  the  first  to  suffer;  next  are  gems;  and  books 
come  third  on  the  list.  Neither  patron  nor  printer  was 
likely  to  remain  behind  at  such  a time  ; and  therefore 
Bruno’s  visit  to  Venice  probably  took  place  in  the  spring 
of  1577,  when  the  pestilence  was  over. 

As  soon  as  it  was  finished,  the  book  was  presented  by 
Bruno  to  Father  Eemigius  of  Florence  (Doc.  ix.),  a 
Dominican  distinguished  for  his  version  of  the  Psalter 
of  David,  with  other  learned  works  ; and  being  approved, 
it  was  printed,  either  without  the  author’s  name  or  with 
the  name  of  Filippo  Bruno.  Though  this  work  has  com- 
pletely disappeared,  it  was  accepted  by  the  pious  Father 


4s 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


llemigius,  and  was  no  doubt  orthodox  in  its  teaching.  It 
may  have  been  occupied  with  the  doctrine  of  Lully,  “ that 
uncultured  hermit  inspired  by  a divine  genius  ” (Gfr.  634) ; 
for  Bruno  was  taught  in  his  youth  by  a man  from  Bav- 
enna  to  connect  things,  such  as  the  virtues,  metals,  mytho- 
logical names,  and  so  on,  in  a certain  alphabetic  order ; 
and  from  this  small  beginning  he  worked  out  that  art  of 
thought  and  memory  to  which  a great  part  of  his  life  was 
dedicated. 

From  the  idol  of  the  mystics,  Lully,  to  the  splendid 
and  mysterious  realities  of  Copernicus  was  more  than  a 
step ; it  was  a revolution.  Bruno’s  faith  was  unshaken  in 
a religion  which  should  bring  the  spirits  of  men  out  of 
the  depths  of  ignorance  and  error  ( De  Immense , 339)  into 
that  infinite  and  exalted  region  where  is  the  light  of  light 
and  the  very  springs  of  Divinity. 

The  Infinite,  so  to  say,  circles  within  his  starry  system, 
even  in  its  darkest  and  most  mysterious  spaces.  Carried 
on  by  the  torrent  of  universal  harmony,  he  was,  as  Flovalis 
said  of  Spinoza,  one  drunk  not  with  new  wine,  but  with 
God ; and  he  beheld  the  Infinite  as  in  a mirror  in  all  the 
abounding  parts  of  the  creation.  But  he  confessed  with- 
out hesitation  before  his  judges  opinions  contrary  to  the 
Church — and  indeed  his  works  lay  open  to  the  judgment 
of  his  accusers  together  with  the  religious  philosophy  or 
philosophic  religion  which  he  professed.  “ A time  would 
come,”  he  writes  (W.  i.  20),  “ a new  and  desired  age,  in 
which  the  gods  should  lie  in  Orcus,  and  the  fear  of  ever- 
lasting punishment  should  vanish.”  (See  also  De  Trip. Min., 
p.  94.)  In  his  vast  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  earth  shrinks  to  a mere  vanishing-point  rocking 
in  space.  Where  amid  the  whirling  of  the  spheres  could 
any  resting-place  be  found  for  the  throne  of  God  and  for 
the  rock  of  St.  Peter  ? The  destroying  anger  of  the 
Church  fell  upon  this  bold  innovator.  Kepler  had  recoiled 
( Kepler , i.  688,  vi.  136)  from  speculations  as  bold.  Teach- 
ing not  so  revolutionary  was  abjured  by  the  septuagenarian 


THE  NOLAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


49 


Galileo  on  his  knees.  “The  starry  Galileo  and  his  woes” 
have  formed  a subject  for  poetry,  and  it  is  pathetic  to 
remember  that  Galileo’s  eyes  became  blind  with  gazing  at 
the  sun,  as  Beethoven  grew  deaf  in  the  midst  of  music. 
But  how  little  thought  or  sympathy  has  in  the  lapse  of 
ages  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Bruno.  His  unceasing  labours  in 
philosophy,  the  ardent  soul  that  lighted  him  on  his  way 
to  death,  the  profound  faith  which  gave  to  the  natural 
philosopher  the  intuition  of  a seer,  these  are  as  worthy  of 
monumental  alabaster  as  the  patient  investigations  of  the 
inventor  of  the  telescope.  But  for  two  centuries  the  name 
of  Bruno  has  lain  hidden  under  the  dust  of  the  schools 
or  the  unmerited  reproach  of  atheism,  while  characters  of 
less  distinction  are  embalmed  in  history  and  celebrated  in 
verse. 

“The  True  is  the  object,”  says  Hegel,  “not  only  of 
conception  and  feeling,  as  in  religion,  and  of  intuition,  as 
in  art,  but  also  of  the  thinking  faculty  ; and  this  gives  us 
Philosophy.  This  is  consequently  the  highest,  freest,  and 
wisest.”  An  “ earnest  beholder  of  the  history  of  Nature 
which  is  written  in  our  minds”  (W.  ii.  12),  Bruno  aspires 
to  be  a “ true  natural  philosopher  ” and  to  discover  the 
“ true  principles  of  natural  philosophy.”  His  aims  were 
thus  of  the  “ highest,  freest,  and  wisest,”  and  his  struggles 
to  accomplish  them  constitute  his  title  to  remembrance. 
“ There  is  no  virtue,”  says  Dryden,  “ which  derives  not 
its  original  from  truth,  as,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  no  vice 
that  has  not  its  beginning  from  a lie  ; ” and  the  Truth,  that 
supreme  essence  which  is  one  with  being  and  unity  (W. 
ii.  1 8 1),  was  Bruno’s  divine  object  (W.  ii.  122),  “the  fount 
of  ideas,  the  ocean  of  all  truth  and  goodness  ; ” (W.  ii.  343) 
while  the  “first  Intelligence,  which  is  pure  and  absolute 
light”  (W.  ii.  365),  in  its  harmony  and  constancy  rose 
high  above  the  confusion  of  his  endeavours  and  lends 
lustre  to  his  name. 


D 


( 5°  ) 


CHAPTER  III. 

“ An  age  is  justified  by  its  existence  ; for  its  existence  is  by  the  decree 
and  the  judgment  of  God.  The  human  race,  like  the  individual, 
lives  by  faith  ; but  the  conditions  of  faith  are  renewed.” — ■Victor 
Cousin. 


Geneva,  May  20,  1 579.  Lyons.  Toulouse. 

1579-80. 

After  a stay  of  a month  or  six  weeks,  Bruno  quitted 
Venice  for  Padua.  There  he  met  with  some  brothers  of 
St.  Dominic,  who  persuaded  him  to  resume  the  dress  of 
his  order  for  the  greater  convenience  of  travelling.  He 
then  went  through  Brescia  (Gfr.  578)  to  Bergamo,  where 
he  caused  a new  habit  of  cloth  to  be  made,  over  which  he 
laid  the  scapulary  which  he  had  retained  on  his  flight 
from  Rome,  and  thus  equipped  he  went  by  Milan  along  the 
way  to  Lyons  (Doc.  ix.) ; and  when  he  reached  Chambery 
he  lodged  in  the  convent  of  the  order,  where,  seeing  he 
was  treated  with  coolness,  he  spoke  with  an  Italian  father, 
who  said,  “ I warn  you  that  in  these  parts  you  will  receive 
no  sort  of  civility,  and  the  farther  you  go  the  less  you  will 
find  on  which  Bruno  turned  off  into  the  road  to  Geneva, 
then  under  the  rule  of  Beza. 

“ Man,”  says  Jacobi,  “ experiences  a natural  desire  either 
to  find  his  thoughts  in  other  minds,  or  to  instil  them  ; ” 
and  the  stronghold  of  Calvinism  was  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  Calvin  had  been  dead  fifteen  years,  but  his  spirit 
had  descended  to  his  successor.  “ When  I consider  what 
aptitude  this  little  corner  has  for  promoting  Christ’s  king- 


GENEVA,  157Q. 


5i 


dom,  I am  naturally  solicitous  to  keep  my  hold  of  it,”  says 
Calvin — an  opinion  in  which  all  possessors  of  little  corners 
will  be  found  to  agree. 

“ Truth,”  says  Montaigne,  “ on  one  side  of  the  Pyrenees 
is  a lie  on  the  other ; ” and  the  heresy  of  Calvin  was  in  his 
own  city  a terrible  and  vindictive  orthodoxy.  Geneva 
was  called  “ Canaan  ” and  the  “refuge  of  all  the  poor  and 
afflicted  children  of  God”  by  Beza ; but  those  who  were 
children  of  God  in  Geneva  were  sons  of  Belial  in  Paris. 
“ Calvin  could  not  endure,”  says  Gribaldi  of  Padua,  “ that 
there  should  be  one  man  in  Geneva  a heretic  in  religious 
matters.”  “ Heretics  were  forced,”  writes  a friend  of  Beza, 
“ to  depart  the  country.”  The  Genevese  magistracy  in- 
spired as  much  terror  in  heretics  as  the  Council  of  the 
Inquisition.  Beza  administered  “ the  just  judgments  of 
God  on  the  wicked  ” (Beza,  Life  of  Calvin)  with  the  un- 
flinching spirit  of  his  master,  whose  dying  instructions  were 
to  “ proceed  roundly  ” with  the  heretics. 

Arrived  in  this  uncompromising  city  of  the  saints,  Bruno 
was  registered  on  the  list  of  Italian  fugitives  in  1579.  He 
went  to  lodge  at  an  inn.  “ Shortly  after,”  he  says,  “ a 
Neapolitan,  the  Marchese  di  Yico,  who  lived  in  the  city, 
asked  me  who  I was  (Doc.  ix.),  and  whether  I was  there  to 
remain  and  to  profess  the  religion  of  that  place ; to  whom, 
after  I had  given  account  of  myself  and  why  I had  quitted 
my  order,  I added  that  I did  not  intend  to  profess  the 
religion  of  that  city,  for  I did  not  know  what  religion  it 
was,  and  that  I was  there  to  dwell  in  peace  and  safety,  and 
for  no  other  end  ; and  he  persuaded  me  at  all  events  to 
put  off  the  habit  which  I wore.”  Bruno  then  assumed  a 
secular  dress ; and  the  Marchese  di  Yico,  with  some  other 
Italians,  made  him  a present  of  a sword,  a hat,  a cloak, 
and  other  things,  without  extending  their  charity  to  trunk 
hose,  which  Bruno  made  for  himself  out  of  stuff  that  he 
had  worn.  Thus  apparelled,  and  his  tonsure,  it  may  be 
supposed, having  disappeared,  the  Nolan  sought  work  in  one 
of  the  printing-houses  as  a corrector  of  proofs— a post 


52 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


which  eminent  students  of  that  age  never  thought  beneath 
their  dignity,  and  to  which,  when  on  their  travels,  they 
looked  usually  for  support. 

Di  Yico  was  a convert  on  whom  the  Calvinists  had 
reason  to  plume  themselves,  for  his  mother  was  the  sister 
of  Pope  Paul  IV.  The  Marchese  had  received  his  first 
instruction  in  the  new  religion  from  Juan  de  Yaldes,  the 
Spanish  reformer,  who  established  himself  for  some  time  in 
Naples.  Di  Vico  was  looked  upon  by  Calvin  as  a prop  to 
the  Church ; he  accepted  the  dedication  of  Calvin’s  Com- 
mentary on  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians ; and  no 
stranger  of  any  mark  passed  through  Geneva  without 
paying  his  respects  to  the  Italian  noble,  who  was  never 
recognised  by  his  own  family  after  lie  joined  the  Reformed 
religion.  Like  the  Gauls,  “ of  whom,”  says  the  simple  his- 
torian, “ the  best  men  commonly  forsook  their  ivivcs  when 
they  were  ordained ,”  Di  Vico,  on  embracing  the  Reformed 
religion,  had  left  his  wife  and  children  ; and  when  he 
bestirred  himself  to  find  employment  for  Bruno,  it  was 
naturally  in  the  expectation  that  he  would  join  the  army 
of  the  faithful.  Pie  had  already,  no  doubt  at  the  instance 
of  Di  Vico,  heard  Niccolo  Balbani  of  Lucca  preach  the 
Gospel  and  read  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  ; for  Balbani  was 
pastor  of  the  Italian  congregation  in  Geneva,  and  on  the 
death  of  the  noble  proselyte  in  1586,  his  memoir  was 
written  by  his  fellow-sojourner  in  a strange  land,  and  was 
translated  into  Latin  by  no  less  a person  than  Beza  him- 
self. But  neither  the  sermons  of  Balbani  nor  those  of  the 
other  French  and  Italian  preachers  in  the  city  produced 
any  effect  on  Bruno,  who,  as  he  remained  unconverted, 
was  given  to  understand  that  without  accepting  the  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrines  he  was  not  to  expect  any  further  succour, 
nor  could  he  be  so  much  as  permitted  to  remain  in  the 
city.  The  natives,  moreover,  were  of  a temper  not  pro- 
mising in  future  advancement  to  those  who  did  not  espouse 
the  cause  of  Calvin.  They  were  called  some  years  later 
by  Casaubon  “ swindlers,  rascally  brigands,  pretentious 


GENEVA,  1379. 


S3 


Pharisees,  diabolical  hypocrites,  and  mock  pietists ; ” and 
without  wing  to  these  lengths,  the  fact  that  Aristotle  1 
was  as  indispensable  to  the  town  as  the  Bible  must  in 
itself  have  rendered  life  impossible  to  his  outspoken  Italian 
opponent. 

Like  the  philosopher  Campanella,  and  like  the  great 
Savonarola,  Bruno  owed  much  to  the  Dominicans.  The 
doctrine  of  the  order  was  identified  with  the  name  of 
Aristotle.  He  barely  escaped  canonisation  ; he  was  looked 
upon  as  the  forerunner  of  the  Messiah ; he  was  said  to 
participate  in  the  Divine  infallibility  and  infinity ; he 
personified  the  splendour  of  scholastic  learning.  His 
dominion  was  as  stable  as  that  of  the  Holy  See  itself,  and 
to  deny  his  doctrine  was  to  open  the  door  to  heresy.  To 
the  scholastics  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  highest  ideal  of  the 
human  mind  was  attained  when  the  sublime  philosophy 
of  Christianity  was  added  to  the  accomplished  art  of 
Aristotle.  They  overlooked  or  did  not  understand  the 
dualism  taught  by  him,  together  with  those  doctrines  of 
God’s  providence  and  man’s  immortality  which  are  essen- 
tially at  variance  with  Christian  teaching.  Nor  is  their 
want  of  comprehension  wonderful  when  the  difficulty  of 
studying  Aristotle  at  that  period  is  remembered.  Averroes, 
who  is  called  by  Petrarch  “ a mad  dog  barking  against  the 
Church,”  declares  that  he  read  Aristotle  forty  times  over 
before  he  succeeded  in  perfectly  understanding  him.  At 
the  one-and-fortieth  time  light  broke  upon  him,  though 
he  might  well  have  spared  his  labour  if  it  produced  the 
speculative  hidden  atheism  ” of  which  he  is  accused  by 
Victor  Cousin. 

Whether  Bruno  became  acquainted  with  the  works  of 
Aristotle  at  second,  third,  or  fourth  hand  does  not  appear. 
They  were  translated  by  Averroes  into  Arabic  from  a 
Latin  translation  of  a Hebrew  translation  of  a com- 

1 “ The  Genevese  have  decreed,”  in  logic  nor  in  any  other  branch  of 
says  Beza  (Epistle  34),  “ once  and  for  learning,  turn  away  from  the  teach- 
ever,  that  they  will  never,  neither  ing  of  Aristotle.” 


54 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


mentarv  fabricated  out  of  an  Arabic  translation  of  the 
Syrian  translation  of  a Greek  text. 

It  is  probable  that  Bruno  knew  little  Greek  ; and  Buhle 
has  remarked  that  his  accents  are  ill-placed,  and  that  he 
could  not  spell.  Indeed,  neither  then  nor  a hundred  and 
fifty  years  later  was  Greek  essential  to  a learned  education. 
“ I never  learned  Greek,”  said  the  Principal  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Louvain  to  Oliver  Goldsmith,  “ and  I don’t  find 
that  I have  ever  missed  it.  I have  had  a doctor’s  cap  and 
gown  without  Greek ; I have  ten  thousand  florins  a year 
without  Greek;  I eat  heartily  without  Greek;  and,  in 
short,”  he  continued,  “ as  I don’t  know  Greek,  I do  not 
believe  there  is  anv  good  in  it.”  Passed  through  lialf-a- 
dozen  translations,  exposed  to  the  heat  of  religious  contro- 
versy, and  transfused  with  the  sunless  and  mystical  spirit 
of  Oriental  lore,  the  Aristotelian  philosophy  reached  the 
Middle  Ages.  “ The  ancients,”  says  Bayle,  “ would  laugh 
aloud  did  they  but  know  all  that  is  attributed  to  them  ; ” 
and  if  Aristotle  could  have  heard  mediaeval  scholars  dispute 
upon  his  philosophy,  he  might  have  said  he  was  Aristotle 
but  no  Aristotelian;  as  Wilkes  thanked  God  he  had  never 
been  a Wilkite. 

Plato  was  treated  with  the  same  license.  Bruno, 
though  nurtured  upon  the  doctrines  of  Aristotle,  did  not 
hesitate  to  attack  them  at  a time  when  to  do  so  was  to 
stir  up  persecution  and  to  expose  himself  to  sore  trouble. 
Though  others  called  in  question  the  logic  of  the  Stagyrite 
— his  least  vulnerable  point — Bruno  confined  himself  to 
natural  philosophy,  haughtily  rebuking  the  presumption 
which  caused  him  to  usurp  the  title  of  a natural  philoso- 
pher (W.  ii.  281).  “For  he  is  one  holding  himself  apart 
from  Nature  and  building  on  vain  imagination  ” (W.  i. 
243-259,  ii.  33).  His  “vile  fancies  and  the  vanity  of  his 
arguments”  (W.  ii.  8)  on  the  scheme  of  the  universe 
roused  an  inextinguishable  spirit  of  opposition  in  the 
adherent  and  successor  of  Copernicus.  The  contempt 
with  which  Bruno  received  the  Aristotelian  system  did 


GENEVA,  TJ7g. 


55 


not  stop  with,  the  master ; it  was  extended  to  his  disciples. 
In  an  allegory  Aristotle  himself  is  made  to  wear  the  shape 
of  a “gross  and  lazy  ass”  (W.  ii.  281).  In  his  theories  on 
the  nature  and  substance  of  things,  on  motion  and  the 
universe,  he  is  accused  of  being  “ madder  than  madness.” 
His  disciples  are  said  to  be  those  “to  whom  Aristotle 
appears  to  be  a miracle  of  Nature ; whereas  they  who 
have  the  poorest  understanding  and  comprehend  him 
least  are  they  who  magnify  him  most”  (W.  ii.  11).  In 
another  place  the  Peripatetics  of  the  time  are  compared 
to  two  blind  beggars  at  the  gate  of  the  archbishop’s  palace 
in  Naples,  one  of  whom  called  himself  a Guelph  and  the 
other  a Ghibelline,  without  knowing  why,  till  they  were 
found  fighting  by  a bystander,  who  asked  them  what  they 
meant  by  a Guelph  and  a Ghibelline,  when  the  one  could 
not  answer  at  all,  and  the  other  said,  “ My  master,  Signor 
Pietro  Costauzo,  is  a Ghibelline”  (W.  i.  133).  “In  the 
same  way  men  fight  for  and  against  Aristotle.” 

Bruno’s  opposition  was  purely  grounded  on  Nature.  He 
speaks  of  Aristotle  as  “a  prophet  and  diviner  (W.  i.  192), 
who,  though  mixing  some  of  his  own  errors  with  the 
divine  frenzy,  is  yet  chiefly  and  for  the  most  part  a 
follower  and  proclaimer  of  the  truth.  But  he  did  not 
comprehend  local  motion,  which  is  the  principle  of  all  the 
dispositions  and  qualities  of  the  earth.”  Moreover,  Bruno 
borrows  front  Aristotle  his  definitions  of  possibility  and 
reality,  wdiicli  are  described  at  length  in  the  dialogue  of 
the  Cause ; and  his  definition  and  division  of  the  cause 
itself  is  clearly  of  Peripatetic  origin.  “ Let  us  imitate 
Aristotle,”  he  pleads  in  his  letter  to  the  rector  of  the  Paris 
University,  “ who  withdrew  himself  of  his  own  instance 
from  the  philosophers  who  were  his  father’s  forerunners 
and  masters.  By  the  same  right  we  withdraw  front 
Aristotle ; following  his  example,  we  depart  front  a soli- 
tude which  is  now  remote  from  the  company  of  philo- 
sophers. Let  us  follow  the  counsels  of  the  leader,  re- 
membering that  each  one  of  us  may  become  subject  to 


5<5 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


ignorance  and  error.  The  title  of  innovator  which  is 
bestowed  upon  us  is  not  ignominious.  There  is  no  doc- 
trine in  antiquity  which  was  not  at  one  time  new ; and 
if  age  is  the  mark  of  truth,  our  century  is  fuller  of 
dignity  than  the  century  of  Aristotle,  since  the  world  has 
now  attained  a greater  age  by  twenty  centuries.” 

The  self-contained  power  and  the  reserve  of  moral  force 
so  characteristic  of  Calvin,  added  to  the  respect  professed 
by  the  Calvinists  for  Aristotle,  explains  not  only  Bruno’s 
reception  at  Geneva,  but  also  his  disappearance  from  that 
complete  and  comfortable  community.  Those  who  were 
to  dwell  in  peace  among  the  Genevese  must  not  only  add 
to  their  knowledge,  but  be  added  to  them ; he  who  was 
not  with  them  was  against  them  ; for  in  them  independ- 
ence of  spirit  ran  so  high  that  they  could  brook  it  in  none 
but  themselves. 

Bruno  met  their  opposition  in  no  conciliatory  humour. 
If  he  had  not  already  declared  war  on  Aristotle,  his  mind 
was  preparing  itself  for  the  conflict ; while  on  the  more 
vital  subject  of  religion,  a chasm  never  to  be  bridged 
divided  the  five  points  of  Calvin  from  the  Nolan’s  warm 
natural  sense  of  justice  and  from  the  optimism  of  his 
philosophy.  Against  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  he  held 
with  Plato  that  evil  is  a defect  of  good,  as,  for  instance, 
that  justice  being  the  excellence  of  the  soul,  injustice  is 
the  defect  of  the  soul.  The  world  he  taught  to  be 
“ good,  in  a good  state,  and  for  a good  purpose  . . . 
a most  high  vestige,  an  infinite  representation  of  him  . . . 
that  can  neither  be  imagined,  nor  conceived,  nor  compre- 
hended” (W.  ii.  14),  and  he  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal 
liis  contempt  for  the  doctrines  of  election,  particular 
redemption,  effectual  calling,  and  perseverance  of  the 
saints.  “ There  is  a dastardly  race  of  pedants,”  he  wrote 
(W.  ii.  146),  “ who,  doing  no  good  thing,  either  by  the 
divine  law  or  by  the  laws  of  Nature,  esteem  themselves, 
and  desire  to  be  esteemed,  religious  and  pleasing  to  the 
gods,  saying  that  though  it  is  well  to  do  good  and  evil  to 


THE  FIVE  POINTS  OF  CALVIN. 


57 


do  wrong,  we  can  only  be  made  acceptable  to  tire  gods, 
not  on  account  of  the  good  we  may  do  or  the  evil  we 
leave  undone,  but  by  hoping  and  believing  according  to 
the  catechism.  . . . They  speak  evil  of  works,  yet  they 
live  on  the  works  of  others ; . . . and  while  saying  that 
all  their  desire  is  for  invisible  things  (which  neither  they 
nor  any  others  truly  comprehend),  they  profess  that  destiny 
is  immutable,  and  that  it  produces  these  invisible  things  by 
means  of  certain  inward  affections  and  imaginations  ; with 
all  of  which  the  gods  are  infinitely  entertained.  . . . Such 
men  merit  persecution,  and  they  ought  to  be  exterminated, 
for  they  are  pests,  and  deserve  no  more  mercy  than  wolves, 
bears,  and  serpents.  To  cleanse  the  world  of  them  is  an 
honourable  and  meritorious  office.”  His  views  on  pre- 
destination are  to  be  gathered  from  a passage  in  the  Expul- 
sion (W.  ii.  152),  in  which,  while  deriding  the  Calvin- 
istic  theory,  he  yet  maintains  that  all,  “ even  the  poorest 
trifles”  (155),  are  under  the  infinite  providence  of  God, 
although  his  ways  are  not  as  our  ways  (156)  nor  is  his 
knowledge  like  ours.  “ Faith  and  opinion  shall  be  approved 
(164),  but  they  shall  never  be  made  the  equal  of  works 
and  deeds ; so  with  confession  and  profession,  when  they 
tend  to  amendment  and  abstaining  from  evil.”  And  that 
he  maintained  this  opinion  is  clear  from  the  record  of  his 
trial,  in  which  he  says,  “ For  I have  always  held,  and  I 
hold,  that  works  added  to  faith  are  necessary  to  salvation ; 
this  is  proved  by  my  book  entitled  the  Cause , and  by  the 
first  dialogue  of  Infinity In  his  valedictory  discourse  at 
Wittenberg,  while  publicly  pronouncing  an  eulogium  on 
Luther,  he  was  ominously  silent  with  regard  to  Calvin ; 
and  on  his  trial  he  admits  that  he  was  favoured  by  the 
Lutherans  at  Wittenberg,  and  not  by  the  Calvinists,  on 
whose  accession  to  power  he  quitted  the  town.  The 
Calvinists  no  doubt  caused  Bruno  to  leave  Geneva  also, 
and  the  remembrace  of  Servetus,  who  was  burnt  twenty- 
three  years  before  for  denying  the  Trinity,  may  have 
hastened  his  departure  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Leman. 


5? 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


In  the  words  of  Madame  de  Stael,  “ II  cst  devenu  trop  grand 
poisson  pour  notre  lac ; ” and  when,  from  the  hanks  of  the 
Thames,  he  reviewed  the  whimsical  career  of  superstition, 
it  was  to  deride  the  “impure  Puritanism”  of  the  Pie- 
formers,  whom  he  called  Deformities. 


The  documentary  evidence  given  by  Bruno  at  his  trial 
in  Venice  must  now  be  supplemented  by  the  records  dis- 
covered in  the  archives  of  Geneva,1  and  printed  by  the 
learned  and  courteous  archivist,  M.  Theophile  Dufour. 
In  the  Venetian  documents  Bruno  says  he  was  two 
months  in  Geneva,  although  he  must  have  remained  four 
or  five  months  in  that  city.  The  wandering  scholar  spent 
sixteen  years  in  different  countries,  often  in  peril  of  his 
life,  and  that  his  memory  is  not  altogether  without  a flaw 
is  proved  by  small  errors  in  his  evidence.  For  instance, 
he  was  in  Paris  three  years,  not  five  (Doc.  ix.)  The 
“ Supper  of  Ashes  ” took  place,  not  in  the  house  of  Cas- 
telnau  (Doc.  xiii.),  but  in  that  of  Fulke  Greville.  It  may  be 


1 Giordano  Bruno  d Geneve.  Docu- 
ments inedits  publics  par  Theophile 
Dufour,  directeur  dcs  archives  de 
Geneve.  Geneve,  imp.  Schuchardt, 
18S4.  An  entertaining  pamphlet, 
La  Legende  Tragique  de  Jordano 
Bruno,  par  TMophile  Desduits,  Pro- 
fesseur  de  Philosophie  au  Lycee  de 
Versailles  (Paris,  Thorin,  1885),  ap- 
pears to  be  suggested  by  the  work 
of  M.  Theophile  Dufour.  M.  Thdo- 
phile  Desduits  is  the  author  of  a 
work  on  Metaphysics,  and  on  the  Phi- 
losophy of  Kant,  both  of  which  were 
crowned  by  the  Prench  Institute. 
An  interesting  and  learned  examina- 
tion of  this  pamphlet,  written  by  Mr. 
R.  C.  Christie,  appeared  in  Mac- 
millan’s Magazine  for  October  1885. 
M.  Desduits,  evidently  an  ardent 
Catholic,  seeks  to  prove  that  Bruno 
did  not  suffer  martyrdom,  on  the 
authority  of  the  two  antiquated 
writers  Haym  and  Quadrio,  who 
declared  Bruno  to  have  been  burnt 
in  effigy.  “ Perhaps,”  says  Clement, 
“ they  considered  fire  too  hot  for  an 


enthusiast,  and  they  thought  the 
Inquisition  might  be  contented  to 
burn  his  likeness  and  to  send  the 
original  into  a madhouse.”  M. 
Desduits  revives  the  foolish  charge 
of  Scioppius  that,  the  Expulsion 
was  “a  ferocious  book  written  by 
Bruno  against  the  Pope,”  although 
Scioppius  is  called  “that  base  slan- 
derer,” and  his  letter  “ an  atrocious 
calumny.”  “What!”  cries  the 
author,  “was  the  severity  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  to  be  com- 
pared to  that  of  the  lay  tribunals  ? 
Who  may  lay  claim  to  the  greater 
number  of  victims — Rome,  or  France, 
Spain,  or  England  ? Did  not  Va- 
nini,  when  he  was  accused  of  atheism 
before  the  terrible  Parliament  of 
Toulouse,  request  as  a favour  to  be 
judged  by  the  Inquisition  ? ” The 
conclusion  is  drawn  that  ‘ 1 there  is  no 
ground  for  belief  in  the  tragical  fate 
of  tjie  philosopher.”  The  author  has 
forgotten  that  all  doubt  on  the  point 
is  removed  by  the  three  Avvisi  lately 
discovered  in  the  Vatican  Library. 


NEW  EVIDENCE  FROM  GENEVA. 


59 


objected  that  the  memory  of  a prisoner  before  the  Inqui- 
sition was  likely  to  prove  treacherous  on  questions  of 
adherence  to  the  heretic  Churches.  The  objection  has  its 
weight,  though  it  is  doubtful  whether  Bruno,  who  was  at 
no  pains  to  hide  his  own  heresies  (Doc.  xi.),  but  confessed 
them  openly,  would  have  cared  to  prevaricate  had  he 
embraced  the  religion  of  Geneva.  He  was  a consistent 
hater  of  Calvin ; and  it  was  scarcely  likely  that  imme- 
diately after  freeing  himself  from  the  irksome  restraint  of 
a religious  life  into  which  he  was  born,  he  should  at  once 
embrace  another,  foreign  to  his  education  and  directly 
opposed  to  all  his  known  principles. 

We  learn,  then,  from  these  newly  discovered  documents 
that  the  entry  of  Filippo  Bruno  in  the  records  of  the 
university  took  place  on  the  20th  May  1579.  Until  the 
discovery  of  M.  Dufour  set  all  doubt  at  rest,  the  exact 
date  of  Bruno’s  stay  at  Geneva  was  uncertain,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  vague  and  uncertain  data  on  which  earlier 
historians  were  compelled  to  base  their  researches.  In 
1650  Vincent  Burlamachi,  the  then  deacon  and  treasurer 
of  the  Italian  Church,  made  a copy  of  the  archives,  which 
contained  a list  of  Italian  refugees  and  their  ministers, 
beginning  in  the  year  1550.  This  work  consists  of 
seventy  manuscript  pages,  preserved  in  the  state  archives; 
and  on  page  23  the  entry  occurs,  “Filippo  Bruno,  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples.”  Burlamachi  contented  himself  with 
a single  date  at  the  top  of  each  page.  Every  page  con- 
tains beween  twenty  and  thirty  entries  ; and  the  date 
given  seems  to  refer  to  the  names  standing  first  on  the 
page.  At  the  head  of  the  page  on  which  Bruno  is  named 
is  the  date  1577;  his  name  is  fourteenth  in  a list  of 
twenty-seven  ; and  at  the  head  of  the  following  page  is 
the  date  1580.  Bruno,  therefore,  was  entered  in  the 
original  archives,  now  lost,  between  1577  and  1580,  which 
agrees  in  all  respects  with  the  date  1579  yielded  by  the 
records  of  the  university,  by  the  registers  of  the  council, 
and  by  the  registers  of  the  consistory. 


6o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


The  proceedings  in  the  consistory  began  on  the  6th 
August  1579  and  ended  27th  August  1579;  and  almost 
immediately  after  the  last  entry  Bruno  must  have  quitted 
Geneva,  perhaps  with  the  intention  of  showing  his  com- 
plete indifference  to  the  privileges  which  he  had  regained.1 
The  documents  collected  by  M.  Dufour  in  his  careful  and 
scholarly  pamphlet  run  as  follows  : — 

Extract  from  the  Registers  of  the  Council  (vol.  lxxiv. 
folio  136.) 

“ Thursday , 6th  August  1579. — Philippe  Jordan,  called 
Brunus,  an  Italian,  detained  for  having  caused  to  be 
printed  certain  replies  and  invectives  against  M.  de  la 
Paye,2  reckoning  twenty  errors  in  one  of  his  lessons. 

“ Besolved  that  he  should  be  examined  after  dinner 
before  the  learned  council  and  Mr.  Secretary  Chevalier. 

“Jean  Bergeon,  imprisoned  for  having  printed  the  said 
invectives,  persuaded  by  the  said  Italian  that  those  papers 
contained  nothing  except  philosophy. 

“ Besolved  he  should  remain  in  prison  till  to-morrow, 
and  should  be  condemned  to  pay  a fine  of  fifty  florins. 

“ Friday , yth  August. — Jean  Bergeon,  printer,  petitions 
for  pardon  of  the  fault  committed  by  him  in  printing  a 
calumniatory  paper  against  M.  de  la  Paye,  for  the  which  he 
is  imprisoned,  having  been  led  astray  by  the  monk,  who 
maintained  there  was  nothing  in  it  against  God  or  the 
magistracy. 

“ Besolved  that  yesterday’s  decree  shall  hold  good, 
except  for  the  fine,  which  shall  be  diminished  by  twenty- 
five  florins  on  account  of  his  small  means. 

1 M.  Dufour  makes  the  valuable  visit.  News  equally  disappointing 
suggestion  that  under  the  name  of  comes  from  Helmstedt  and  Wolfen- 
Philippe  Brun  or  Brunet  records  of  biittel. 

Bruno’s  progress  are  yet  to  be  found.  a Antoine  de  la  Faye,  professor 
The  archivists  of  Lyons  and  Tou-  of  philosophy  in  the  Academy  of 
louse  unfortunately  at  present  offer  Geneva.  Later  he  became  professor 
nothing  to  assist  the  student  be-  of  theology,  and  the  quarrel  pro- 
yond  civil  assurances  that  they  bably  arose  therefore  on  a philosophic 
possess  no  further  traces  of  Bruno’s  and  religious  question. 


THE  TRIAL  AT  GENEVA. 


61 


“ Monday , io th  August. — Philippe  Brunet,  an  Italian, 
having  responded  in  prison  respecting  the  calumnies 
which  he  caused  to  be  printed  against  M.  Antoine  de  la 
Faye,  having  acknowledged  his  fault  Friday  last,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  ministers  and  of  Mr.  Varro,1  resolved,  that 
he  shall  be  set  at  liberty,  but  that  he  must  ask  pardon  of 
God,  of  the  law,  and  of  the  said  de  la  Faye,  and  that  he 
shall  be  again  sent  to  acknowledge  his  fault  before  the 
consistory,  and  he  shall,  moreover,  be  sentenced  to  tear  the 
said  defamatory  libel  into  pieces  ; for  the  rest,  he  shall  be 
granted  his  costs.”  (Register  of  the  Council,  vol.  lxxiv. 
folio  138.) 

In  what  humour  Bruno  attended  to  make  the  required 
apology  appears  from  the  following  entry : — 

“ Thursday,  13th  August. — Prohibition  of  the  sacrament. 
Philippe  Brun  appeared  before  the  consistory  to  acknow- 
ledge his  fault,  forasmuch  as  he  had  erred  in  the  doctrine, 
and  had  called  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Geneva 
'pedagogues,  alleging  that  in  that  matter  he  would  neither 
excuse  himself  nor  would  he  plead  guilty,  for  the  truth 
was  not  told  of  him,  since  he  was  of  opinion  that  the  story 
was  had  upon  the  report  of  one  Mr.  Antoine  de  la  Faye. 
Asked  whom  he  called  pedagogues,  he  answered  with 
many  excuses  and  allegations  that  he  was  persecuted, 
bringing  forward  several  random  opinions  with  sundry 
other  accusations ; and  nevertheless  he  confessed  that  he 
appeared  in  this  place  to  own  his  fault,  which  he  com- 
mitted when  he  made  sundry  and  divers  reflections  upon 
the  ministers.  Was  admonished  to  follow  the  true  doc- 
trine. Said  he  is  prepared  to  submit  to  the  censure. 
And  seeing  that  he  calumniated  the  said  De  la  Faye,  and 
brought  forward  an  accusation  against  him,  that  he  had 
said  a thing  which  he  did  not  say,  saying,  moreover,  that 
he  would  not  ask  pardon  for  his  conduct,  but  that  he  was 
obliged  to  do  what  he  had  done,  it  is  recommended  that 

1 Michael  Varro  was  secretary  to  occupied  himself  chiefly  with  natural 
the  council  and  afterwards  coun-  science  and  mathematics.  He  died 
sellor.  He  had  studied  law,  but  in  1586. 


62 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


lie  shall  be  soundly  reasoned  with,  and  that  he  shall  be 
caused  to  acknowledge  his  fault,  and  that  he  shall  be  for- 
bidden the  sacrament  in  case  he  will  not  acknowledge  his 
fault ; and,  moreover,  shall  be  sent 1 before  the  Seigneurs, 
who  are  entreated  to  show  no  grace  whatever  to  such  a 
fellow,  for  he  may  bring  strife  into  the  schools ; and  he 
must  promptly  recognise  his  fault.  Who  answered  that 
he  repented  of  his  fault  and  would  make  amends  for  it 
by  better  conversation,  and,  moreover,  he  confessed  to  his 
calumny  with  respect  to  the  said  Sr.  de  la  Faye.  The 
said  remonstrances  and  prohibition  of  the  sacrament  were 
made  to  him,  and  returned  with  remonstrances. 

“ Thursday,  27^/1  August. — Absolution  from  the  prohi- 
bition with  remonstrances.  Philippe  Brun,  a scholar  liv- 
ing in  this  city,  appeared  before  the  consistory  to  require 
that  the  prohibition  of  the  sacrament  laid  upon  him  should 
be  removed ; and  he  was  forbidden  the  sacrament  because 
of  his  calumnies  against  the  ministers  and  against  a tutor 
of  the  college  named  M.  Antoine  de  la  Faye,  acknowledg- 
ing that  in  this  he  had  committed  a grave  error ; it  is 
recommended  that  good  counsel  should  be  bestowed 
upon  him,  and  he  be  given  liberty  to  participate  in  the 
sacrament ; on  which  he  was  reasoned  with,  and  he  was 
made  free  from  the  prohibition,  for  which  he  returned  his 
hearty  thanks.”  2 

It  has  been  stated  that  Bruno  could  not  have  become  a 
’ student  in  the  University  of  Geneva  without  consenting  in 
writing  to  the  confession  of  faith  imposed  by  the  statute 
of  1559. 

In  1576,  however  (J.  E.  Cellerier,  Li  Acad&mic  de  Gen&ve, 
1872,  p.  150),  this  stipulation  was  withdrawn,  and  Bruno, 
therefore,  was  not  compelled  to  sign  any  profession  of 
faith  before  he  entered  the  university.  M.  Dufour  considers 

1 No  other  summons  is  recorded  of  Pastors,  which  might  have  thrown 

by  the  registers  of  the  council.  light  on  this  matter,  are  missing 

2 The  registers  of  the  Company  from  the  year  1579  to  1584. 


THE  TRIAL  AT  GENEVA. 


6 3 


it  proved  that  Bruno  had  formally  accepted  the  Protestant 
religion  because  his  name  is  on  the  return  of  Italian  re- 
fugees made  by  the  Protestant  Church  in  Geneva.  But 
we  have  it  on  his  own  evidence  that  he  had  attended  many 
sermons  in  Italian  and  in  French,  and  also  the  teaching 
and  sermons  of  Balbani,  with  the  object  of  acquainting 
himself  with  the  religion  of  the  city.  It  is  clear  that  he 
could  not  have  embraced  Calvinism  without  knowing  its 
principles.  Giving  himself,  therefore,  due  time  for  the 
study,  he  must  plainly  have  decided  against  Calvin  and 
quitted  the  city.  It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  he  found 
Calvinism  a particularly  detestable  religion.  Moreover,  for 
having  “erred  in  matters  of  doctrine”  he  is  called  before 
the  consistory ; and  though  we  are  told  “ he  was  ad- 
monished to  follow  the  true  doctrine,”  he  made  no  profes- 
sion of  doing  so.  The  point  was  passed  over,  and  he 
escaped  on  withdrawing  the  accusations  which  he  had 
made  against  De  la  Faye,  and  on  asking  pardon  for  the 
epithet  pedagogue,  which  he  had  applied  to  the  ministers 
of  the  Church  of  Geneva.  With  regard  to  the  prohibition 
of  the  sacrament,  Bruno’s  disposition  was  such,  that  to 
forbid  him  what  he  chose  to  consider  his  rights  was  to 
make  him  insist  upon  them  whether  he  wanted  them  or 
no.  Like  the  Irish  nation,  which  has  been  said  to  be  never 
at  peace  except  when  it  is  at  war,  he  revelled  in  conten- 
tion, and  being  a stickler  for  privilege,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  he  was  a partaker  in  the  sacrament  merely 
because,  with  characteristic  pertinacity,  he  insisted  that  he 
was  in  no  way  disqualified  for  the  communion. 

From  Geneva  Bruno  went  to  Lyons,  and  as  a sect  of 
Socinians  1 is  known  to  have  existed  there,  the  hope  was 
reasonable  that  he  might  also  be  treated  with  tolerance. 
Moreover,  Lyons  was  the  centre  of  the  French  book  trade. 
It  rivalled  Geneva  in  the  cheapness  of  its  wares ; and 
though  Lyons  was  famous  for  missals  and  books  of  hours, 

1 Castlenau  speaks  of  the  “Deists  and  Trinitarians”  of  Lyons.  Their 
chief  died  at  Zurich  in  1562, 


64 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


and  Geneva  for  its  Bibles,  so  completely  were  the  two 
towns  free  from  any  narrow  sectarian  spirit,  that  they 
drove  a thriving;  but  underhand  trade  in  each  other’s 
commodities ; and  Genevese  mass-books  went  out  into  the 
world  side  by  side  with  Calvinistic  commentaries  printed 
in  Lyons.  Thus  competition  was  open  and  keen ; and 
the  grudge  was  embittered  by  the  fact  that  many  French 
refugees  were  established  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Leman, 
where  they  led  away  their  compatriots  into  exile  with  the 
promise  of  high  wages.  The  Lyonnese  printers  retaliated 
by  branding  the  publications  of  Geneva  as  heretical ; and 
the  Genevese,  who  had  no  Index,  avoided  the  prohibi- 
tion by  placing  on  their  title-pages  the  name  of  Cologne 
or  Antwerp,  or  by  sending  a member  of  their  printing- 
houses  into  a foreign  town,  and  even  to  Lyons  itself, 
which  was  thus  forced  to  bring  the  contraband  goods  into 
the  market. 

Bruno  remained  at  Lyons  a month,  but  being  unable  to 
find  sufficient  employment  there,  he  went  to  Toulouse, 
where  there  was  a famous  school,  which  numbered  ten 
thousand  scholars.  Supported  by  a sense  of  his  own 
merit,  he  ventured  into  the  lion’s  mouth ; for  Toulouse 
was  a bulwark  of  the  Inquisition,  “ the  rampart  of  the 
faith  in  Languedoc;”  and  Bruno,  who  had  read  Babelais, 
must  have  known  that  Pantagruel  declined  to  visit  the 
city  of  the  troubadours,  because,  as  he  said,  he  was  always 
athirst  and  always  dry,  and  therefore  he  needed  no  warm- 
ing, since  in  Toulouse  men  were  grilled  like  so  many  red 
herrings.  It  is  sufficient  evidence  that  Bruno  was  not  a 
professed  Calvinist,  since  for  more  than  a year  he  was 
permitted  to  lecture  and  to  teach  in  this  intolerant  city. 
“ The  students,”  says  an  old  chronicle,  “ rose  at  four  in 
the  morning,  and  after  their  prayers  were  said,  they  were 
on  their  way  to  college  by  five  o’clock,  with  their  folios 
under  their  arms  and  lanterns  in  their  hands.” 

The  fair  city  of  the  gay  science  and  of  the  floral  games 
was  then  at  its  zenith.  Its  rich  and  powerful  schools 


TOULOUSE. 


65 


attracted  a large  population  to  the  town,  which  had  not 
as  jet  begun  to  suffer  from  the  distress  in  France.  Here 
Bruno  met  with  better  days.  He  made  the  acquaintance 
of  “ persons  of  intelligence,”  and  was  invited  to  read 
astronomy  with  the  scholars  of  the  city.  In  about  six 
months,  when  the  place  of  ordinary  lecturer  became 
vacant,  he  took  his  degree  as  Master  of  Arts,  and  quali- 
fied himself  for  the  professorship,  which  was  bestowed 
upon  him.  He  remained  in  the  town  a year  or  more,1 
giving  lessons  and  lectures  on  philosophy,  and  in  parti- 
cular on  Aristotle’s  book  on  the  Soul, — a subject  which 
agitated  Italy  for  nearly  a century,  and  was  awakening  a 
deep  interest  in  the  whole  of  Europe.  Whether  Aristotle 
did  or  did  not  lapse  from  the  doctrine  of  personal  immor- 
tality was  discussed  with  the  bitterest  invective  in  the 
schools,  and  professors  lecturing  on  other  subjects  were 
recalled  to  the  question  of  the  hour  by  their  pupils,  who 
shouted  “Anima,  anima,”  that  the  long  and  ardent  dispute 
might  be  revived.  It  is  supposed  that  Bruno  may  have 
reproduced  the  substance  of  his  lectures  at  Toulouse  in 
his  book  on  the  Shadows  of  Ideas,  printed  in  1582  in  Paris. 
Nothing  certain  is  known  except  that  he  lectured  on  the 
soul,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  availed  himself  of  the 
method  of  Lully  for  developing  the  memory  of  liis  pupils. 
It  is  known  that  he  did  not  consider  himself  altogether 
parted  from  the  Church.  “ Twice  in  seventeen  years,”  he 
says  at  his  trial,  “ I attended  the  confessional ; once  in 


1 From  the  somewhat  ambiguous 
wording  of  the  ninth  document  of 
the  trial,  Bruno  seems  to  think  that 
he  remained  two  years  or  two  years 
and  a half  at  Toulouse.  But  since 
we  know  he  was  at  Geneva  in  1579, 
and  spent,  as  he  says,  “ about  live 
years  ” in  Paris,  he  could  not  have 
remained  two  years  in  Toulouse. 
If  he  arrived  there  early  in  the 
winter  of  1579,  he  may  have  re- 
mained till  the  beginning  or  1581, 
when  he  must  have  gone  to  Paris. 
How  otherwise  could  the  impression 


remain  on  his  mind  that  he  spent 
so  long  a period  as  five  years  in  that 
city  ? The  books  which  he  printed 
there  were  dated  1582.  Early  in 
1583  he  was  in  London;  from  the 
autumn  of  1585  till  1st  June  1586 
he  was  once  more  in  Paris.  At  the 
outside,  therefore,  and  counting  the 
two  periods  in  one,  he  could  not 
have  spent  more  than  three  years  in 
Paris;  and  it  scarcely  seems  possible 
that  he  stayed  much  more  than  a 
year  in  Toulouse. 


E 


66 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Toulouse  with  a Jesuit,  and  another  time  in  Paris  with 
another  Jesuit.”  His  masterful  nature  rebelled  at  the 
obedience  of  the  cloister,  as  his  mind  refused  to  refine  on 
the  distinctions  in  the  Godhead ; but  he  clung  with  an 
unreasonable  and  passionate  attachment  to  the  material 
part  of  the  Catholic  religion,  though  openly  professing 
himself  unable  to  accept  its  spiritual  teaching.  “ Souls 
learned  and  generous,”  he  says  (W.  i.  172),  “ do  right,  not 
by  law,  hut  by  expedience,” — a commentary  on  the  words 
of  Paul  to  the  Eomans,  “ For  ye  are  not  under  the  law, 
but  under  grace : ye  are  become  dead  to  the  law.”  It  is 
clear  that  he  had  not  realised  his  position  with  regard  to 
the  Church  in  his  own  mind,  but  that,  believing,  as  he 
did,  theology  and  philosophy  to  be  roads  leading  but  to 
one  end,  and  that  end  divine,  he  held  it  to  be  altogether 
immaterial  which  way  was  chosen,  providing  the  great 
doctrine  of  love  to  God  and  man  is  borne  in  the  mind  and 
manifest  in  every  action  of  life. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  so  lax  a Catholic  could 
have  been  permitted  to  exercise  his  calling  in  Toulouse, 
even  for  one  year  or  one  year  and  two  or  three  months. 
Toulouse  was  a city  of  fanatics,  and  though  the  seat  of 
the  Parliament  of  Languedoc,  freedom  of  thought  was  ex- 
cluded, and  no  heretic  could  either  live,  or  even  print  a 
book  there.  Here,  a century  before,  Eaimond  Sebond,  for 
whom  Montaigne  made  himself  the  apologist,  was  per- 
mitted to  profess  opinions  both  novel  and  irregular.  But 
the  times  had  changed,  and  the  spirit  was  developing  itself 
which  forty  years  later  decreed  the  martyrdom  of  Yanini, 
whose  tongue,  in  the  words  of  an  old  chronicle  “ was  nut 
out,  his  body  was  cast  into  the  flames,  and  his  soul  was 
delivered  up  to  Satan.”  Moreover,  for  other  reasons,  Bruno’s 
stay  in  the  town  was  rapidly  becoming  impossible.  Al- 
ready, in  April  and  May  1580,  Henry  of  Navarre  overran 
the  neighbourhood  with  his  troops.  Between  the  years 
1579  and  1580  the  Huguenots  made  “more  than  forty 
assaults  ” {Sully  s Memoirs  i.  87-98)  on  different  cities 


TOULOUSE. 


67 


and  villages  in  the  neighbourhood;  and  for  some  years 
later  the  headquarters  of  the  King  of  Navarre  were  at 
Montauban,  a city  not  far  from  Toulouse,  which  was  thus 
rendered  an  unsuitable  spot  for  a traveller  indisposed  to 
assume  that  “thin  habit  of  spirits”  which  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  declares  to  be  “ beyond  the  force  of  sivor els.” 

It  was  probably  about  a year  later  (1581-82)  when  the 
Nolan  took  his  departure,  “leaving,”  as  he  says,  “on 
account  of  the  civil  wars ; ” though  his  allusions  to  “ his 
enemies  at  Toulouse,  and  to  its  “ clamours,  its  murmuring, 
and  its  scholastic  frenzy  ” (Gfr.  624),  with  certain  words 
cancelled  in  his  deposition  (Doc.  ix.),  clearly  indicate  that 
some  of  his  afflictions  were  on  a smaller  scale  than  civil 
war,  and  were  due  to  his  natural  love  of  disputation. 
Thus,  as  has  been  well  said  by  Washington  Irving,  “ mere 
pebbles  make  the  stream  of  truth  diverge  into  different 
channels,  even  at  the  fountain-head.” 


( 68  ) 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

“ The  earth  is  the  cut  de  sac  in  the  great  city  of  God — the  camera  ob- 
scura  full  of  inverted  and  contracted  images  from  a fairer  world,  the  coast 
of  God’s  creation,  a vaporous  halo  round  a better  sun.” — J.  P.  Richter. 


Journey  through  France,  1581.  Paris.  Lully.  Some  Latin 
Worlcs  on  the  Art  of  Memory. 

It  was  probably  early  in  1581  when  Bruno  travelled 
northwards  to  Paris.  He  was  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
in  the  prime  of  life,  and  for  a man  who  by  his  own  act 
was  shut  out  from  the  monastic  career,  and  who  hoped  to 
make  his  living  by  writing  and  speaking,  the  road  to  the 
capital  promised  help  and  advancement,  since  France, 
racked  as  it  was  by  war,  was  alive  to  learning  and  to 
philosophy. 

We  learn  from  the  Spanish  biographer  of  Don  John  of 
Austria  that  the  courtiers  rode  to  court  in  carts  drawn 
by  oxen,  while  driving  was  prohibited  by  royal  command 
on  account  of  “ that  infernal  vice  the  coach,”  which  had 
done  great  injury  to  Castile.  In  France,  the  system  of 
relays  not  being  yet  established,  it  was  common  for  the 
coachmen  of  noble  ladies  to  lose  their  way  in  the  dark 
and  their  horses  in  the  rivers.  Journeys  by  water 
were  made  in  tow-barges,  which  were  often  cut  down 
and  upset  by  heavier  craft.  Sometimes  the  crazy 
wherry  was  full  three  times  over ; sometimes  the  wind 
was  high  and  caused  delay ; there  was  no  awning ; 
infants  died  on  their  way  to  baptism ; the  miserable 


PARIS,  1381. 


69 


passengers  were  beaten  by  the  tempest,  and  too  often 
assailed  with  clubs  and  stones  from  the  banks  by  hasty 
Catholics  with  a gift  for  discovering  and  punishing 
stray  lambs  of  another  persuasion. 

For  sixteen  years  Bruno  wandered  in  Europe,  at  a time 
when  to  travel  meant  to  spend  eight  days  on  the  road 
from  Paris  to  Calais,  and  seven  days  from  Lyons  to 
Paris,  to  sleep  in  inns  pell-mell  with  travellers  of  the 
roughest  description,  and  often  with  no  bed  but  straw. 

But,  in  spite  of  every  obstacle,  it  was  a matter  of 
necessity  that  a man  of  learning  should  travel.  To  print 
in  Paris,  a writer  was  forced  to  be  in  Paris  ; for  to  correct 
proof-sheets  at  a distance,  and  with  the  post  wanting,  was 
impossible. 

Book  marts,  too, . were  so  few  and  far  between,  that 
transcripts  were  often  made  by  hand  and  sold.  Books 
published  abroad  were  very  costly  in  London,  and  books 
published  in  Oxford  were  not  to  be  had  in  the  Lon- 
don shops,  so  ill  was  the  trade  organised.  Moreover, 
as  the  fame  of  a book  nowadays  is  said  to  be  made  by 
word  of  mouth,  so  the  fame  of  a professor  in  the  Middle 
Ages  was  made  by  disputation.  To  these  tournaments  of 
letters  Bruno  looked  even  more  than  to  his  books  for 
credit  and  support.  A crowd  of  hearers  spread  abroad 
the  fame  of  the  disputants,  and  the  fury  of  debate  added 
a zest  to  a ready  speaker  with  a disputatious  temper. 
Regnault,  the  secretary  of  the  Grand  Prior,  Henri 
d’Angouleme,  speaks  of  the  Nolan  in  a preface  to  one  of 
his  works  ( The,  Song  of  Circe ) printed  in  Paris,  as  “an 
author  in  the  disesteem  of  the  populace,”  and  that  he  was 
out  of  suits  with  fortune  was  as  much  due  perhaps  to  his 
love  of  debate  as  to  his  heretical  opinions. 

The  echoes  of  war  had  crossed  the  Alps  and  penetrated 
the  still  seclusion  of  the  Neapolitan  cloister  (W.  ii.  198;  De 
Lampad.  Comb.  Dedici)  “ It  was,”  Bruno  writes,  “ one  long 
and  horrid  tumult.”  In  another  place  he  speaks  of  “ the 
frenzy  and  tumult  of  France,”  and  of  “ the  sanguinary 


70 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Seine”  (W.  i.  231).  Although  he  lamented  the  intestine 
wars  which  ravaged  the  country  at  that  time,  he  had 
a just  appreciation  of  the  valour,  gaiety,  and  quickness 
of  the  people,  and  in  the  Song  of  Circe  the  cock  is 
celebrated  as  “ a most  beauteous,  lucid,  and  almost  divine 
animal.” 

The  sight  of  tbe  country  as  he  journeyed  through 
France  was  not  calculated  to  cement  his  allegiance  to  the 
ancient  religion.  “ It  was,”  says  Castelnau  in  his 
Memoirs,  “ one  long  and  bleeding  wound.”  Mornay 
writes  to  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1585  that  France  was 
transformed  into  a scaffold.  The  country  was  literally 
torn  in  halves  between  the  League  and  the  Cause,  between 
Lorraine  and  Navarre.  “It  is  not  possible  for  them  ” 
(the  French),  writes  Sir  William  Cecil,  “ to  be  poor  and 
peaceable  for  many  years.”  The  priests  said  prayers  in 
coats  of  mail,  the  crucifix  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in 
the  other.  “ Kill  them  all;  God  will  know  his  own,”  cried 
a monk  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  “ Towns,”  to  quote  from 
an  old  chronicle,  “ were  no  longer  towms,  but  the  haunts 
of  lions  and  tigers.”  The  king  ordered  his  people  “ on 
pain  of  death  to  love  one  another.'”  The  Papists  razed  the 
temples  of  the  Huguenots;  the  Huguenots  pillaged  the 
Papal  sacristies. 

Into  Paris,  then  containing  not  quite  four  hundred 
thousand  people,  Bruno  entered  towards  the  middle  of 
1581.  Antique  philosophy  had  expired,  or  rather,  like 
he  river  Lethe,  which  runs  underground,  it  had  vanished. 
Suddenly,  with  the  revival  of  thought,  there  arose  what 
has  been  called  by  an  old  writer  “ an  hydroptique  immo- 
derate desire  of  humane  learning  and  languages.”  Not 
even  the  plague  had  caused  a lapse  in  the  instruction 
given  at  the  schools  or  in  the  attendance  of  the  scholars. 
They  rose  with  the  lark.  The  first  morning  class  was 
held  at  six ; the  students  dined  at  ten,  and  the  court  at 
twelve,  or  even  an  hour  later  on  hunting-days.  The 
court  exchequer  was  low,  and  the  science  of  credit, 


PARIS,  15S1. 


7i 


instead  of  parading  in  open  exchanges,  lurked  as  yet  in 
the  dark  alleys  of  the  Jewish  quarters.  Men  of  learning, 
even  in  the  next  reign,  were  not  received  without  mis- 
givings and  lapses  in  comfortable  entertainment.  “You 
cost  the  king 1 too  much,  sir,”  said  Sully  to  Casaubon  ; 
“ your  pay  exceeds  that  of  two  good  captains,  and  you 
are  of  no  use  to  the  country.”  Moreover,  free  quarters 
even  at  court  were  not  what  we  are  used  to  call  princely. 
Voltaire,  writing  of  the  palaces  in  1562,  says  that  the 
courtiers  slept  three  and  four  in  the  same  bed,  and  lived 
in  rooms  unfurnished,  except  with  oaken  coffers  ( Essai 
sur  les  Mo&urs). 

The  streets  of  Paris  were  not  pleasant  resorts,  for  not 
only  were  night  and  day  made  insufferable  by  brawling, 
but  so  late  as  1607  Casaubon  complains  that  the  plague 
nurses  came  out  of  the  plague  hospitals  to  walk  about 
the  town;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  in  1 58  I 
the  nurses  were  less  solicitous  either  for  the  health  of 
their  patients  or  for  their  own. 

Under  the  shadow  of  his  great  golden  lilies  Henri  III. 
loved  to  assemble  the  countrymen  of  his  mother  and  of 


1 “ King  Henry  IV.,”  says  Scali- 
ger,  “ could  not  do  two  things  : he 
could  not  keep  his  countenance,  and 
he  could  not  read.”  He  had  Casau- 
bon in  his  library  “ to  tell  him  what 
was  in  his  books,  for  he  understood 
them  not  at  all  ” ( Epistres  Francises 
a M.  de  la  Scala,  p.  105).  However, 
the  king’s  want  of  learning  did  not 
impede  his  career  as  a politician. 
He  undertook  in  writing  to  the 
Pope,  Clement  VIII.,  so  to  manipu- 
late “the  edict  which  I have  pub- 
lished to  the  tranquillity  of  my 
kingdom,  that  its  solid  results  shall 
he  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion.” 
This  dissimulation  was  characteristic 
of  the  age,  and  men  of  mark  did  not 
escape  its  influence.  Like  that  Lord 
Shaftesbury  who  objected  to  telling 
too  much  truth,  Bruno  writes  of  dis- 
simulation as  “the  handmaid  of 
Prudence  and  escutcheon  of  Truth 


and  in  speaking  of  simplicity  in  the 
same  work  he  says  (W.  ii.  190), 
“ This  handmaid  of  Truth  ought  not 
to  travel  far  abroad  from  her  Queen, 
though  sometimes  the  goddess  Neces- 
sity constrains  her  to  decline  towards 
dissimulation,  lest  simplicity  and 
truth  may  not  be  inculcated,  or  to 
shun  some  other  inconvenience. 
This  being  done  by  her  not  without 
method  and  order,  may  therefore  be 
very  well  done  without  error  or 
vice.”  But  that  Bruno  knew  the 
true  aspect  of  dissimulation  is  shown 
by  his  allusion  to  “ her  suspicious 
steps  and  fearful  appearance,  and 
she  is  esteemed  unworthy  of  heaven, 
though  even  the  gods  are  forced  to 
use  her  at  times  . . . for  sometimes 
Prudence  hides  the  truth  with  her 
garments  in  order  to  escape  envy, 
blame,  and  outrage.” 


72 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Maccliiavelli.  “ He  was  good  at  heart,  but  too  easily 
governed,”  writes  De  Thou  ; “ a good  prince,  had  he  but 
met  with  better  times.”  “ He  loved  letters,  and  protected 
science  and  the  arts ; he  thought  it  princely  to  reward 
men  of  letters,  whether  they  were  foreigners  or  French- 

>5  I 

men. 

The  philosopher  who  had  been  despised  and  rejected 
by  so  many  towns  was  grateful  when  he  found  in  Paris  a 
reception  of  better  augury.  He  was  named  professor 
extraordinary,  to  escape  assisting  at  mass,  which  was 
compulsory  on  ordinary  professors,  and  according  to 
Scioppius  he  would  have  been  accepted  as  titulary  pro- 
fessor if  he  had  consented  to  follow  Catholic  observances. 
However,  by  favour  perhaps  of  the  king,  and  perhaps  on 
account  of  the  doctorate  which  he  had  obtained  at  Tou- 
louse, he  was  permitted  to  deliver  thirty  lectures  (Doc. 
ix.),  taking  for  his  subject  thirty  divine  attributes  from 
St.  Thomas  Acjuinas — Dante’s  “ good  brother  Thomas” — 
who  exercised  so  powerful  an  influence  on  the  Domini- 
cans, that  the  noblest  defenders  of  Catholicism  looked  to 
the  shining  example  of  his  saintly  spirit  for  help  in 
establishing  the  ancient  order  of  things.1 2 

It  was  chiefly  by  the  king’s  favour  that  Bruno  was 
permitted  to  follow  his  calling  in  Paris.  “ King  Henry 
III.,”  he  says,  “ called  me  one  day  before  him,  and  de- 
sired to  know  whether  the  memory  I have  had  and  pro- 
fessed is  natural  or  by  arts  of  magic ; whereupon  I gave 
him  satisfaction,  and  by  that  which  I said  and  did  I 
proved  to  him  that  my  memory  came  by  knowledge  and 
not  by  magic  arts.”  Some  light  is  thrown  on  Bruno’s 

1 From  liis  time  French  with  the  ground.  A modern  instance  occurs 
Italian  accent  became  the  rage,  in  the  imitation  of  the  German 
The  round  sounds  aroit,  fraru;ois,  court  r in  English  aristocratic  cir- 
anglois,  and  so  forth,  were  flattened  cles. 

into  the  pronunciation  of  Italian  2 Bruno,  when  opposing  the  doc- 
queens  and  courtiers  ; and  although  trine  that  the  Virgin  was  born  with- 
Henri  Estienne  condemned  le  non-  out  sin,  was  supported  by  St.  Thomas 
vcau  languaige  italianise,  it  held  its  and  by  the  authorities  of  his  order. 


OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS: 


73 


character  by  bis  dedication  of  tbe  Shadows  of  Ideas  to 
Henry  III.  of  France.  Tbe  king  is  represented  as  a 
“ spectacle  transporting  tbe  nations  by  bis  virtue,  bis 
genius,  bis  magnanimity,  bis  glory.” 

In  good  report  and  evil  report  Bruno’s  gratitude  ap- 
peared in  magniloquent  praises  of  tbe  king — of  “ tbe 
bigbness  of  tbis  great  and  powerful  monarch,  tbe  most 
generous  heart  in  Europe,  who  makes  tbe  farthest  poles 
of  earth  resound  with  bis  fame ; be  who  when  be  roars 
in  anger,  like  a lion  in  his  lofty  cave,  inspires  fear  and 
mortal  terror  in  tbe  other  mighty  beasts  of  prey ; and 
when  be  is  at  peace  gives  out  a flame  of  liberal  and 
courteous  love,  such  as  lights  up  the  neighbouring  tropic, 
beats  tbe  frozen  bear,  and  dissolves  to  dew  tbe  rigid 
arctic  desert,  which  lies  beneath  tbe  eternal  watch  and 
ward  of  fierce  Bootes”  (W.  i.  122). 

Again,  when  it  becomes  a question  whether  tbe  trium- 
phant beasts  or  vices  shall  be  expelled,  or  tbe  virtues 
exalted  to  tbe  skies,  “ Apollo  asked  bow  should  they  dis- 
pose of  tbe  tiara  ? ” (W.  ii.  249).  “ That,  that  is  the 

crown,”  said  Jupiter,  “ which  by  tbe  high  decree  of  Fate 
and  tbe  instinct  of  tbe  Divine  Spirit  is  deservedly  awaited 
by  tbe  invincible  Henry  III.,  king  of  tbe  magnanimous, 
tbe  potent,  and  tbe  warlike  land  of  France,  the  crown 
which  be  looks  for  after  those  of  France  and  of  Poland ; 
as  be  testified  in  tbe  beginning  of  bis  reign  by  taking 
that  celebrated  device,  where  two  crowns  below  and  one 
more  eminent  make  tbe  body,  and  tbis  motto  serves  for 
tbe  soul,  Tertia  coelo  manet.  Tbis  most  Christian  king, 
holy,  religious,  and  pure,  may  securely  say,  Tertia  ccelo 
manet,  because  be  knows  that  it  is  written,  Blessed  are 
tbe  peace-makers ; blessed  are  tbe  pure  in  heart,  for  theirs 
is  tbe  kingdom  of  heaven.  He  loves  peace  ; be  maintains 
bis  people  as  much  as  possible  in  tranquillity  and  devotion. 
He  is  not  pleased  with  tbe  noise  of  martial  instruments, 
which  administer  to  the  blind  acquisition  of  tbe  unstable 
tyrannies  and  principalities  of  tbe  earth ; bis  pleasure  is 


74 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


justice  and  holiness,  which  discover  the  way  to  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  The  fiery,  tempestuous,  and  turbulent 
spirits  of  some  of  his  subjects  may  not  hope  that  while 
he  lives  whose  tranquil  mind  is  as  it  were  a stronghold 
against  warlike  fury,  they  shall  receive  any  assistance  in 
vainly  disturbing  the  peace  of  other  countries  under  pre- 
tence of  adding  other  sceptres  and  crowns  to  his ; for 
Tcrtia  ccelo  manet. 

“ In  vain  shall  the  rebellious  French  forces  set  forth 
against  his  will  to  disquiet  the  borders  and  coasts  of 
others  ; for  not  the  proposals  of  unstable  counsel,  the  hope 
of  changeable  fortune,  nor  the  advantage  of  foreign 
administrations  and  suffrages  will  be  able,  under  a pretence 
of  investing  him  with  robes  and  adorning  him  with 
crowns,  to  take  from  him  otherwise  than  by  necessity  the 
holy  adornment  of  a tranquil  spirit,  he  being  more  liberal 
of  his  own  than  covetous  of  what  belongs  to  others.  Let 
others  endeavour  to  mount  the  empty  throne  of  Portugal, 
and  others  be  solicitous  for  the  Belgic  dominion.  Why 
should  you  break  your  heads  and  beat  your  brains  about  this 
or  the  other  principality  ? Why  suspect  and  fear,  0 kings 
and  princes,  that  your  neighbours  should  conquer  your 
armies  and  rob  you  of  your  crowns  ? Tertia  ccelo  manet. 

“Let  the  crown  remain,”  Jupiter  concludes,  “waiting 
for  him  who  is  worthy  of  so  magnificent  a possession. 
And  here  also  let  victory  reward  perfection,  honour  and 
glory  have  their  throne ; for  if  they  are  not  virtues,  they 
are  the  end  of  virtues.” 

Bruno’s  was  no  fair-weather  affection.  When  the 
power  of  Henry  III.  was  despised,  and  in  a country 
where  his  very  Christianity  had  been  severely  censured, 
Bruno  gratefully  remembered  his  protector,  and  in  the 
preface  to  the  Acrotismus  he  places  his  book  under  the 
patronage  of  “ the  most  Christian  and  most  puissant 
king.”  The  Shadows  of  Ideas  appeared  “ with  the  king’s 
privilege,”  and  these  panegyrics  drew  on  the  writer  the 
anger  of  the  Inquisition,  since  it  was  one  of  the  counts 


“OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS: 


75 


against  him  when  he  was  arraigned  at  Venice  that  he 
had  praised  heretic  princes,  among  whom  Henry  III.  was 
noted  ; for  the  news  of  his  death  in  1589  was  saluted  by 
the  cannon  of  Rome,  where  a panegyric  was  pronounced 
on  his  assassin,  the  Dominican  Clement.  In  the  epistle 
dedicatory  he  is  careful  to  give  his  opinion  of  the  book  to 
the  king.  “ Great  gifts,  0 sacred  Majesty,”  he  says,  “are 
due  to  great  men — the  greater  to  the  greater,  the  greatest 
to  the  greatest.  It  is,  therefore,  manifest  why  this  book 
(which  is  numbered  among  the  greatest  by  reason  of  its 
noble  subject,  the  singularity  of  its  invention,  and  the 
gravity  of  demonstration  wherewith  it  is  expounded) 
addresses  itself  to  you,  0 admirable  light  of  nations,  by 
reason  of  your  excellent  and  most  mirrorific  mind,  by  the 
high  renown  of  your  genius,  which  is  famous,  magnani- 
mous, and  of  good  right  merits  the  obeisance  of  all  learn- 
ing. Be  it  yours  to  accept  this  work,  graciously  to  pro- 
tect it,  and  to  examine  it  with  mature  wisdom.” 

This  work  contains  the  germs  of  Bruno’s  system  of 
philosophy.  It  bears  a device  showing  it  is  addressed  to 
readers  “ not  inept  but  learned,”  and  it  initiates  Bruno’s 
revolt  against  the  fixed  system  of  Aristotle.  Plato  and 
the  “ Hebraic  Plato,”  Plotinus,  look  on  the  great  globe 
itself  as  but  “ a shadow,  eiScoXov,  of  the  truth,  which  is 
the  sphere  of  ideas,  those  divine  images  . . . which 
are  the  shadows  of  true  existence  ” ( Plato’s  Republic, 
Jowett,  iii.  420).  Bruno,  seizing  the  view  of  Plato, 
works  it  out  in  this  book  by  defining  ideas  as  the  nature 
of  things,  and  the  shadow  of  ideas  as  that  which  is  in 
accordance  with  the  nature  of  things  (Gfr.  299).  The 
Shadows  of  Ideas  is  in  reality  the  first  part  of  a work 
of  which  the  Art  of  Memory  is  the  second  part.  The 
Shadows  of  Ideas  discloses  the  metaphysical  principles  of 
Bruno  ; the  Art  of  Memory  applies  those  principles  to 
the  Lullian  art.  “ For  that  art,”  says  Bruno  (Ars 
Memoriae,  fol.  1,  8),  is  based  on  ideas,  sometimes  out- 
running idle  Nature,  and  enticing  her  to  labour,  some- 


76 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


times  guiding  her  in  the  way  she  should  go,  or,  when  she 
wearies,  staying  and  strengthening  her,  or  correcting  her 
when  she  errs,  or  when  she  is  perfected,  imitating  and 
striving  after  her  diligence.” 

Thus  the  Nolan,  like  Garrick  between  Tragedy  and 
Comedy,  stands  beside  the  twin  studies,  the  dark  and 
mysterious  oracle  of  the  Catalonian  monk,  and  the  en- 
lightened form  of  Nature. 

This  Rabelaisian  dedication,  so  characteristic  of  Bruno’s 
delight  in  the  magniloquent,  is  followed  by  three  sets  of 
verses,  and  preceded  by  twelve  lines  of  Latin  poetry. 
After  alluding  to  the  aspect  of  the  shades,  which  he  is 
about  to  evoke  from  the  profound  darkness,  and  promising 
that  they  shall  be  pleasant  to  look  upon,  Bruno,  assuming 
the  name  of  Merlin,  continues : “ The  depths  of  wisdom, 
if  but  lightly  stirred,  shall  yield  delectation ; but  they 
will  confound  and  cover  with  disgrace  instead  of  glory 
him  who  would  rashly  plunge  into  them.”  If  a little 
learning  is  a dangerous  thing,  Merlin  is  wrong ; but 
Buhle  is  of  opinion  that  the  lines  are  ironical,  and 
intended  to  deter  ignorant  persons  from  reading  the 
book.  “ To  travel,”  Merlin  continues,  “ with  any  surety 
in  the  labyrinth  of  science,  it  is  essential  we  should  not 
lose  the  thread  held  out  to  us  by  Wisdom.”  This  is 
succeeded  by  an  “ apologetic  dialogue  ” between  one 
Hermes  Philothimus  and  Logifer, — evidently  a violent 
attack  upon  Bruno’s  enemies  living  at  Paris  and  else- 
where, who  are  described  as  beasts  expressing  themselves 
after  their  kind.  “ Ravens  croak,  wolves  howl,  pigs 
grunt,  oxen  low,  sheep  bleat,  donkeys  hee-haw ; each 
pleases  himself  and  his  kind.  Who  will  reply  to  them  ?” 
(Gfr.  296.)  Later  he  speaks  of  these  would-be  philo- 
sophers as  “ asses  who  slowly  hurry  to  the  chase,”  resem- 
bling Midas  “by  reason  of  their  great  ears;”  and  again 
he  calls  them  mules  (Gfr.  1 95),  “neither  horses  nor 
asses,  mixing  braying  with  neighing.” 

The  Shadows  of  Ideas  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The 


OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS: 


77 


first  ( Triginta  intentiones  umbrcirum)  contains  thirty  points 
to  be  considered  respecting  the  shadows  of  ideas.  The 
second  part  ( Triginta  idearum  conceptus ) lays  down  thirty 
axioms  which  are  composed  of  simple  primordial  ideas, 
and  of  primordial  ideas  coupled  with  shadows  of  ideas. 
By  sharply  defining  the  nature  and  hidden  laws  of  active 
thought,  Bruno  desired  to  clear  the  ground  for  those  rules 
of  mnemonics  which  figure  prominently  in  all  his  teach- 
ing. The  expression,  “ shadow  of  ideas,”  he  says,  is  just 
“ because  man  cannot  know  the  absolute  truth ; for  his 
being  is  not  a being  absolute  and  real,  but  its  shadow.” 

This  is  reasoning  adopted  from  the  Neo-Platonic  and 
Cabbalistic  philosophy.  The  shadow  of  the  idea  has  its 
share  of  light  and  darkness.  It  is  composed  of  both, 
having  traces  of  light,  but  not  the  fulness  of  light. 
Light  can  be  recognised  by  beholding  the  substance,  and 
also  by  beholding  the  accident  of  the  substance,  which 
may  be  its  shadow.  For  as  the  light  of  the  substance 
(■ materia  prima ) emanates  from  the  primordial  light  ( actus 
primus  lucis),  so  the  light  of  the  accident  (or  shadow) 
emanates  from  the  light  of  the  substance.  (“  The  first 
form,”  says  Bacon,  in  his  Advancement  of  Learning , 
u that  was  created  was  light,  which  hath  a relation  and 
correspondence  in  Nature  and  corporal  things  to  know- 
ledge in  spirits  and  incorporal  things.”)  Somewhat  later 
Bruno  says  ( Intentio , xxiii.),  “ The  shadow  is  opposed 
neither  to  light  nor  darkness.  It  is  related  to  both. 
Man  took  refuge  in  the  shadow  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge 
that  he  might  know  light  and  darkness,  truth  and  falsity, 
good  and  evil.” 

But  the  substance  and  its  accident  cannot  receive  the 
fulness  of  light ; they  are  therefore  within  its  shadow  ; 
and  the  idea  of  them  is  again  a shadow.  Now  these 
shadows  of  ideas,  being  composed  of  light  and  darkness, 
are  of  a twofold  nature.  They  will  lose  themselves  in  the 
darkness  if  the  high  properties  of  the  soul  are  inactive 
and  subservient  to  the  lower  appetites ; or  they  will 


78 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


ascend  to  the  purer  light  if  the  higher  faculties  gain  the 
mastery,  and  as  the  soul  rises  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
eternal  and  the  imperishable.  And  all  knowledge  of 
truth  proceeds  from  unity  to  plurality,  and  from  plurality 
to  unity.  (Perhaps  the  same  spirit  moved  Bacon  when 
he  wrote,  “A  little  philosophy  inclineth  men’s  minds  to 
atheism,  but  depth  of  philosophy  bringeth  men’s  minds 
about  to  religion.  For  while  the  mind  of  man  looketh 
upon  second  causes  scattered,  it  may  sometimes  rest  in 
them  and  go  no  farther  ; but  when  it  beholdeth  the  chain 
of  them  confederate  and  linked  together,  it  must  needs 
fly  to  Providence  and  Deity.”)  It  was  necessary  1 that 
the  universe  should  in  its  various  parts  be  unequal. 
Were  they  equal,  the  beauty  of  the  world  would  be  im- 
possible,2 for  its  perfection  is  manifested  only  by  the 
connection  of  its  various  parts  to  the  whole.3  If,  there- 
fore, the  world  is  a complete  and  organised  whole,  we 
cannot  conceive  more  than  one  ruler,  as  it  is  inconceivable 
there  can  be  more  than  one  order.  (££  We  are  all,” 
says  the  Apostle,  “ members  of  one  body.”)  The  world 
has  many  members  and  but  one  body : the  chaos  of 
Anaxagoras  is  number  without  order. 

There  is  no  real  difference  between  the  shadows  of 
ideas.  Beauty  and  ugliness  are  conceived  by  the  same 
operation  of  the  mind.  There  are  many  ideas,  but  there 
is  but  one  method  of  perceiving  ideas  : imperfection,  evil, 
and  ugliness  are  not  separate  conceptions.  Their  pecu- 
liarity consists  in  their  being  a negation  in  reality,  a 
nonentity  in  entity,  a defect  in  effect.4  (Leibnitz  makes 
use  of  this  definition  in  his  Theodicceci.) 

The  shadows  of  ideas  differ  in  degree  according  to 
the  position  of  their  substance  with  regard  to  the  pri- 
mordial Unity.  They  may  be  related  to  the  truth,  its 

1 Intentio,  viii.,  ix.  dantia  prater  inattingibile  esse  ne- 

2 Ve  Triginta  Idearum  Conceptus,  quit.” — Cusa,  Dialogus  de  Genesi, 

ii.  71a. 

3 “ Differentia,  sine  qua  concor-  4 Intentio,  xxL 


“ OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS." 


79 


distinctness  and  purity,  although  they  never  reach  the 
absolute  truth,  the  pure  light  itself.  Without  following 
Bruno  into  the  mazes  of  a definition  between  physical 
and  ideal  shadows  of  ideas,  it  is  easy  to  understand  a 
definition  such  as  the  following : — Physical  shadows  of 
ideas  are  like  the  real  shadows  thrown  by  a real  body. 
A hoi’se  in  motion  casts  a shadow  which  changes  with 
the  motion  of  the  horse.  This  shadow  is  divided  from 
the  substance,  and  is  therefore  no  part  of  the  substance, 
though  it  could  not  exist  without  the  substance.  In  like 
manner  shadows  of  ideas  are  not  in  time,  place,  nor 
motion;  but  the  object  is  in  all.  Bruno  conceives  a 
great  procession  of  things,  at  the  head  of  which  he  places 
things  which  by  themselves  and  in  themselves  are  real, 
and  at  its  end  he  places  the  immaterial.  That  spirit 
is  truly  active  which  comprehends  pure  ideas  untram- 
melled by  place  or  time.  The  forms  of  things  are  in 
themselves  ; they  are  in  heaven ; they  are  in  ideas  ; they 
are  in  germs ; they  are  in  the  nearest  acting  causes ; 
they  are  individual  in  their  operation ; they  are  in  the 
senses  and  in  the  mind.  Matter  is  not  complete  when 
it  receives  a form,  as  the  eternal  changes  of  matter 
testify.  That  which  is  real  is  not  individual ; it  is  not 
capable  of  being  perceived  by  the  senses,  as  Aristotle 
expressly  declared  when  he  spoke  of  substance  (Kvplws 
overlay).  That  which  is  real  remains  the  same,  therefore 
what  is  produced  and  perishes  is  not  real.  That  alone  is 
real  which  is  the  same  (Idem) — the  Abiding — the  Eter- 
nal : the  terms  are  identical. 

“ The  highest  intelligence,”  says  Bruno,  u is  the; 
Highest  Light,1  and  he  who  desires  to  comprehend  that; 
which  is  absolute  and  steadfast  must  strive  after  the  lio-ht, 
for  every  creature  can  receive  it  according  to  its  capa- 
city. All  things  proceed  one  from  another,  diversity  from 


1 Conceptus,  ix.  ; De  Triginta  Idearum  Conceptus,  ii. 


8o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


diversity  in  infinite  multitudes,  and  lie  alone  can  number 
them  who  has  numbered  the  stars  in  the  sky.  But  they 
must  return  to  the  First  Principle,  and  they  become  lost 
in  that  absolute  Unity  which  is  the  source  of  all  units.1 

The  Primeval  Intelligence,  from  its  copiousness,  does 
not  produce  new  ideas,  nor  does  it  operate  in  a new 
manner.  Nature  produces  new  things  as  regards  num- 
ber, but  not  in  a new  manner,  because  it  invariably  works 
in  the  same  manner.  Those  virtues  which  are,  as  it 
were,  unwound  and  dispersed  in  matter,  become  united  as 
they  approach  the  First  Cause,  and  are  one  with  it.  In 
the  First  Cause  there  is  but  one  idea  of  all  things.  It  is 
light,  life,  spirit,  unity ; in  it  are  all  species,  perfections, 
truths,  numbers,  and  degrees  of  things.  Contrast  and 
diversity  in  Nature  are  in  it  harmony  and  unity.  Here 
Bruno  inserts  a quantity  of  mnemonic  rules  which  it 
would  be  tedious  to  follow.2  After  declaring  that  except 
the  One  and  the  First  all  must  be  number,  he  proceeds 
to  show  why  the  lowest  degree  of  beings  must  be  infinite 
in  number,  and  that  in  the  highest  the  Infinite  Unity  is 
alone  the  most  absolute  Reality.  He  then  complicates 
his  subject  by  four  definitions  of  form,  dividing  the  Idea 
of  the  subject  again  into  four,  the  first  technical,  the 
second  logical,  the  third  physical,  the  fourth  metaphysical. 
If,  he  says,  the  First  Principle  acted  from  chance,  and  not 
from  free  will,  it  would  require  no  ideas,  for  there  can  be 
no  activity  which  is  not  founded  on  freedom  of  reflection.3 
Anything  is  more  easily  understood  by  means  of  the  idea 
in  the  mind  than  by  means  of  the  real  form  and  substance 
itself,  because  these  are  material.  In  like  manner  a 
subject  is  best  conceived,  not  through  its  own  objective 
being,  but  through  the  idea  of  it  in  the  Divine  under- 
standing. 

True  to  his  admiration  for  Lully,  Bruno  proceeds  to 

1 Conceptus,  x.  Compare  Causa,  4th  Dialogue  (W.  i.  261). 

2 Conceptus  xiii. 

3 Hegel  follows  the  same  train  of  reasoning. 


OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS." 


assert  that  the  golden  chain  of  things,  which  reaches  from' 
heaven  to  earth,  and  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  binds  to- 
gether the  uttermost  parts  of  each,  is,  in  its  connection 
with  knowledge,  an  excellent  help  to  the  memory  (Buhle, 
726).1  As,  he  says,  there  are  six  sorts  of  shadows,  differ- 
ing according  to  the  position  of  bodies  in  their  relation  to 
the  sun,  so  do  the  shadows  of  ideas  differ  in  their  relation 
to  the  First  Principle,  who,  by  addition,  subtraction,  and 
attraction,  calls  forth,  combines,  and  weighs  all  things. 
The  Divine  Spirit  has  but  one  idea,  which  comprehends 
totality  in  unity ; in  a human  intelligence  ideas  manifest 
themselves  by  irregular  and  detached  actions,  but  they 
are  declared  in  God  by  manifold,  connected,  and  active 
power ; they  are  revealed  by  Nature  like  an  imprint,  but 
in  man,  per  uvibree  modum,  they  are  but  shadows. 

Of  mysteries,  Bruno  2 says  that  they  divide  and 
diminish  as  the  intelligence  expands,  for  they  were  in- 
stituted to  use  men’s  eyes  to  see  clearly,  lest  the  sight 
should  be  offended  by  a too  abrupt  transition  from  dark- 
ness to  light.  With  characteristic  want  of  prudence,  he 
expounds  without  scruple  or  hesitation  matters  about 
which  he  had  been  better  silent ; while  Lullian  maxims, 
which  he  might  have  proclaimed  upon  the  house-tops,  he 
wraps  in  the  mystery  of  the  sibyl,  accompanying  his 
comments  on  Lully  with  such  tags  as  these : “ It  is  not 
given  to  all  men  to  enter  Corinth  ; ” “ He  who  desires  to 
understand,  understands;”  “He  who  desires  to  elicit  the 
truth,  elicits  the  truth.” 

It  was  natural  that  this  teaching  should  excite  com- 
ment in  Paris.  “ These  shadows,”  says  Bruno  in  his 

1 Perhaps  this  golden  chain  of  the  highest  link  of  Nature’s  chain 
things  is  only  visible  to  the  poet,  must  needs  be  tied  to  the  foot  of  Jupi- 
wliose  eye  “doth  turn  from  hea-  ter’s  chair”  [Advancement  of  Learn- 
ven  to  earth,  from  earth  to  heaven.”  mg,  10). 

But  the  conception  is  antique.  2 In  his  book  De  Imaginum 
“When  a man  . . . seetli  the  de-  Bruno  gives  it  to  be  understood 
pendence  of  causes  and  the  works  that  “Be  Umbris  Idearum”  and 
of  Providence,”  says  Lord  Bacon,  the  “ Cantus  Circaus”  are  to  be 
“then,  according  to  the  allegory  of  interpreted  cabalistieally. 
the  poets,  he  will  easily  believe  that 

F 


82 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


dedication  to  liis  comedy  the  Candle-Bearer,  ££  terrify  the 
brnte  creation,  and,  like  the  devils  of  Dante,  put  the  asses 
in  a panic.”  He  represents  his  adversaries  under  the 
names  of  “ Master  Bobus,”  “ Anthoc,”  “ Roccus,”  ££  Phar- 
faeon,”  ££  Berling,”  ££Maines,”  “ Scoppet,”  ct  Clyster,”  ££Car- 
pophorus,”  ££  Arnophagus,”  ££  Psicoteus  ” (Gfr.  296).  He 
visits  all  dependent  thinkers  with  his  contempt.  “ I 
have  sworn  to  no  philosophy,”  he  says,  “ but  I despise  no 
means  of  knowledge.  I esteem  him  highly  who  from  his 
own  mind  adds  his  mite  to  the  art  and  science  of  the 
contemplation  of  things.  I do  not  think  ill  of  the 
Platonists,  nor  do  I reject  the  doctrine  of  the  Peripa- 
tetics so  long  as  it  has  a foundation  in  what  is  real ; and 
this  I say  that  I may  set  my  foot  against  them  who 
measure  other  minds  by  their  own.  Of  that  kind  is 
the  unhallowed  crew  wrho  have  not  formed  their  own 
souls  by  occupation  with  the  best  philosophers,  and  who 
speak  constantly  out  of  the  mind  of  others  because  they 
have  no  mind  of  their  own.” 

Few  persons  perhaps  suffered  more  from  these  than 
Bruno.  ££  One  man,”  he  writes  in  his  preface  to  Infinity , 
££  as  if  I had  an  eye  to  himself,  menaces  me ; another,  for 
being  only  observed,  assaults  me ; for  coming  near  this 
man,  he  bites  me  ; and  for  laying  hold  of  that  one,  he 
devours  me.  It  is  not  one  who  treats  me  in  this  manner, 
nor  are  they  few ; they  are  many,  and  almost  all.”  It  is 
true  that  Bruno  makes  no  secret  of  his  aversion  to  the 
* mob,,  for  which  they  repay  him  in  kind.  “ I hate,”  he 
says  in  the  same  preface,  ££  the  vulgar  rout ; I am  dis- 
pleased with  the  bulk  of  mankind.”  And  in  the  dialogues 
on  the  Immense  and  the  Innumerable,  he  speaks  of  having 
been  sped  by  the  Beautiful  and  by  Truth  towards  the 
goal  where  the  shouts  of  the  throng  and  the  storms  of 
the  age  can  never  more  trouble  him. 

In  brief,  Bruno 'desires  to  convey  -by  this  work  that 
what  we  call  ideas  are  real,  and  what  we  call  real  is  but 
an  image  or  shadow  of  the  reality.  What  is  real  is  ever- 
lasting and  unchangeable,  such  as  truth,  order,  love, 


“OF  THE  SHADOWS  OF  IDEAS: 


33 


beauty.  Tlie  image  is  of  matter,  which  changes  and 
passes  away  ; such  is  man,  a chair,  a leg  of  mutton.  But 
the  Idea  is  stable,  universal,  eternal ; it  is  an  attribute  of 
God,  who  is  also  eternal.  It  is  infinite  of  itself  and  by 
itself,  because  it  is  divine ; an  essence  everywhere  and 
always  essential  to  man,  and  yet  above  him.  He  alone 
can  give  the  body  of  the  truth  its  form  and  pressure  who 
has  in  his  understanding  a precise  image  of  the  real. 
Under  such  guidance  let  him  study  the  outward  forms  of 
human  speech  with  the  images  of  truth  and  reality  that 
are  within  him  and  about  him.  Ideas  are  his  true  light. 
If  they  ceased  to  be,  he  would  be  plunged  in  darkness  and 
the  world  would  escape  him.  Let  him  behold  the  round 
world  and  its  fulness  as  a scroll  bearing  the  imprint  of 
the  finger  of  God,  each  character  a living  symbol,  and  the 
whole  creation  a copy  of  an  ideal  picture,  an  expression 
of  the  beauty,  truth,  and  order  of  the  Divine  mind. 
Bruno  having  thus  defined  the  shadow  and  the  idea,  pro- 
ceeds to  set  up  a machinery  of  expression.  Men’s  minds 
had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  surprise  of  the  invention 
of  printing  ; and  Bruno,  taking  the  universe  as  a printed 
book — a simile  common  to  that  century,  which  was 
beginning  to  compare  the  book  of  Nature  with  the  Scrip- 
tures— proceeds  to  compile  a dictionary  or  syllcibicum  of 
the  objects  of  the  understanding,  of  forms  and  modes  of 
understanding,  reducing  the  whole  of  these  to  order  by 
the  art  of  Lully.  Mnemonics  assume  so  complete  a form 
in  the  eye  of  Bruno  as  to  embrace  not  only  the  practice 
of  representation,  but  its  theory,  and  the  very  theory  of 
thought.  He  looks  upon  thinking  as  an  accomplishment 
of  the  mind,  a representation,  so  to  say,  in  the  inner 
mind  by  inner  writing,  of  that  which  Nature  represents 
externally,  as  it  were,  by  external  writing.  A familiar 
illustration  of  this  process,  is  in  the  sensitive  plate  of  the 
photographer,  which  receives  a shadow  on  its  surface,  and 
by  its  inner  process  retains  the  shadow  as  if  it  were  the 
autograph  of  Nature. 


rfv 


C bJL 


Kv<AA.  ^ 

fUU 


84 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Thus  Bruno  conceives  what  has  been  written  by  the 
spirit  in  Nature ; and  thus  he  rises  to  the  conception  of 
the  Idea.  He  is  no  sooner  under  the  empire  of  this 
harmony  than  he  feels  he  is  one  with  the  life  of  the 
universe,  which,  with  his  human  mind,  constitutes  but 
one  principle,  flowing  from  and  animated  by  one  and  the 
same  Being.  Thus  writing,  as  he  says,  as  one  dwelling 
under  the  shadow  of  ideas,  he  builds  up  his  theory, 
which  binds  man  by  his  inner  thought  as  by  a cord  to 
the  order  of  Nature,  and  both  to  the  unity  of  God. 

The  second  part  of  the  Shadows  of  Ideas  is  called  the 
Art  of  Memory.  It  contains  a number  of  psychological 
observations  and  rules  of  memory,  intended  for  the  king’s 
use.  Mnemonics  is  held  by  Bruno  to  possess  a threefold 
mission.  It  must  first  determine  the  subjects  of  the 
cognition  and  their  nature  ; secondly,  it  deals  with 
forms ; and,  thirdly,  with  the  instrument  itself,  and  its 
t use  in  exercising  and  strengthening  the  mind.  Hence 
everything  depends  on  the  precision  and  clearness  with 
which  obj  ects  are  perceived ; the  perceptions  must  be 
| retained  in  the  mind  in  such  order  that  they  may  at 
I pleasure  be  recalled,  so  that  the  chaotic  fancy  is  re- 
strained and  ordered  by  the  thinking  faculty.  Several 
rules  follow  in  a technical  language,  the  key  to  which  has 
perished.  What  to  us  are  opinions  and  conclusions  take 
actual  shape  and  form  in  the  mind  of  Bruno,  and  his 
Organon  contains  directions  for  the  government  and 
security  of  the  mind,  and  the  attainment  of  just  per- 
ceptions. 

He  distinguishes  nine  mental  states  which  concur  in 
perception  : (a)  the  intention,  when  either  the  sense  or 
the  mind  is  moved  by  an  object ; ( [b ) the  provocation  of 
the  imagination,  thus  indirectly  or  directly  excited  ; (c) 
the  passive  movement  of  the  imagination,  by  which  it  is 
urged  towards  inquiry ; (cl)  the  active  movement  of  the 
imagination,  by  which  it  makes  active  inquiry ; (e)  the 


“ THE  ART  OF  MEMORY.” 


35 

scrutiny  in  behalf  of  which  the  imagination  proceeds ; 
(/)  the  formed  representation  of  a striking  idea;  ( g ) the 
representation  of  the  reason  why  this  idea  is  more  strik- 
ing than  another ; ( li ) the  recognition  of  the  representa- 
tion, by  means  of  which  it  can  be  recalled ; and  last,  the  | 
determination  that  the  recognised  representation  of  thej 
striking  idea  accords  with  the  idea  itself.  The  judgment 
is  the  most  excellent  condition  of  the  nine,  and  it  is  the 
peculiar  instrument  (organon)  of  the  faculty  of  thought. 
Bruno  compares  it  to  a stick  in  the  hand,  by  means  of 
which  we  stir  a heap  of  chestnuts  to  seek  out  a particular 
chestnut. 

The  mystic  figures  and  hieroglyphics  in  this  work  are 
not  to  be  unriddled  without  a key.  We  have,  among 
others,  illustrations  and  figures  disposed  to  the  use  of 
this  art.  Out  of  the  ordinary  representations  of  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  planets,  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  Bruno 
devises  subjects  for  the  plastic  arts  of  great  ingenuity  and 
beauty,  and  to  these  his  learned  admirer  Buhle  is  care- 
ful to  draw  attention.  Buhle  also  refers  the  system  of 
metaphysics  here  developed  to  Plotinus,  who  undoubtedly 
influenced  Bruno  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his 
literary  career. 

To  Plotinus  and  to  Jamblichus,  his  disciple  in  fantastic 
philosophy,  constant  allusions  occur  in  the  Heroic  Ectpture , 
the  latest  of  Bruno’s  Italian  works.  Plotinus  called  him- 
self a Platonist,  but  he  went  beyond  his  master  in  the 
great  question  of  the  One  or  the  Good,  which,  in  the, 
Timceus,  Plato  declares  to  be  the  highest  of  the  ideas, 
while  Plotinus  ascribes  the  source  of  the  highest  good  to 
One  above  the  sphere  of  ideas  and  beyond  the  grasp  of 
reason.  We  find  in  Plotinus  Bruno’s  cherished  instance, 
the  sun,  standing  for  the  image  of  the  One  or  the  Good. 
Out  of  its  abundance  it  sends  forth  an  image  of  itself,  as 
the  suns  pour  forth  their  rays.  This  image  is  the  sphere 
of  the  ideas  ; to  them  true  being  and  life  belong  : in  its 
passive  aspect  it  is  the  object  of  knowledge ; in  its  active 


S6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


sense  it  is  the  knowing  subject  or  reason.  To  sever  the 
highest  idea  from  the  others  dependent  on  him  is  to  cut 
them  adrift  from  the  source  of  life  and  being ; and  the 
Notts  or  image  of  him  in  which  ideas  dwell  and  perform 
circles  about  him,  combined  with  another  image  produced 
by  the  Nous , which  is  the  mind,  and  performs  circles 
about  the  Notts,  is  a confusion  which  strikes  the  modern 
reader  with  amazement.  The  knot,  however,  was  found 
in  ecstasy,  which  was  to  bind  man  to  God,  and  make  him 
one  with  the  Idea. 

Bruno,  however,  had  the  strength  of  mind  to  perceive 
these  differences  and  to  overcome  them.  He  took  the 
best  of  each  system  and  created  a plan  of  his  own ; and 
since  (as  Sir  Joshua  Beynolds  says  in  his  excellent  dis- 
course on  imitation)  “ invention  is  one  of  the  great  marks 
of  genius,”  Bruno  may  logically  lay  claim  to  genius. 

“ Mnemosyne,”  he  writes,  “ is  the  mother  of  the  Muses  ” 
(Gfr.  557,  561).  Like  Hegel,  he  ascribed  to  his  method 
qualities  belonging  to  his  mind,  and  credited  mere  forms 
with  his  own  creative  power  and  progression.  Bruno’s 
active  inventive  qualities  gave  life  to  abstractions,  and  he 
expected  other  minds  to  be  as  vivid  and  fruitful  as  his  own, 
which  was  alive  with  what  Lamb  calls  “ elemental  fires.” 

Perhaps,  as  has  been  suggested,  this  book  was  the 
outcome  of  Bruno’s  reasonings  and  writings  at  Toulouse, 
which  may  have  been  embodied  in  a lost  work  on  the 
Soul,  the  principal  doctrine  of  which  reappeared  in  several 
of  Bruno’s  other  works,  and  notably  in  the  third  part  of 
the  Shadows  of  Ideas.  Berti  believes  that  another  work, 
called  the  Grand  Key,  was  the  first  of  Bruno’s  composi- 
tions on  Lully,  and  that  it  also  has  vanished.  It  is 
certain  Bruno  speaks  in  Paris  perpetually  of  a Key.  He 
proposes  with  this  grand  key  to  unlock  the  portals  of 
the  Lullian  penetralia,  to  make  the  learned  and  the  un- 
learned alike  acquainted  with  hidden  things,  to  reveal  the 
occult,  to  elucidate  the  obscure  ; and  he  ironically  en- 
treats the  Humanists  to  forgive  him  for  searching  after 


THE  GRAND  KEY. 


87 


gold  in  the  mud  of  Lully.  But  the  full  title  of  a later 
work  (the  Torch),  and  the  words,  est  ct  unica  clavis,  seems 
to  point  to  this  as  the  only  key  to  the  system  of  Lully. 
On  the  other  hand,  towards  the  end  of  the  Shadows  of 
Ideas,  Bruno  refers  to  a book,  the  Great  Key,  in  which 
certain  “ species,  forms,  appearances,  images,  semblances, 
patterns,  indications,  signs,  notes,  characters,  and  seals  ” 
are  set  forth  at  length.  This  “ First  Book  of  the  Great 
Key”1  is  again  alluded  to  some  years  later  at  Wittenberg. 
If  it  ever  existed,  it  shared  the  lot  of  those  lost  or  forgotten 
writings  to  which  he  alludes ; and  it  is  remarkable,  not 
that  they  were  lost,  but  that  so  many  small  divided 
chapters  on  the  art  of  memory  should  survive.  The 
doctrine  remained  though  the  pamphlets  had  perished, 
and  it  was  no  doubt  repeated,  as  well  in  the  Gi'and  Key 
as  in  the  long  series  of  writings  succeeding  the  Shadows 
of  Ideas. 

After  much  hesitation  we  are  told  that  Bruno  decided 
to  give  the  Shadows  of  Ideas  to  the  world,  observing  that 
were  men  in  all  things  to  consider  possible  perils  and 
evils,  none  would  ever  succeed  in  performing  good  and 
efficient  work. 

Three  books  on  the  art  of  Lully  were  published  by 
Bruno  in  Paris  in  1582 — the  Shadows  of  Ideas,  with  its 
second  part,  the  Art  of  Memory,  the  Compendium  of 
Architecture , and  the  Song  of  Circe.  The  first,  and,  in 
numbers,  the  largest  group  of  his  works,  is  chiefly  written 
in  Italian  prose  and  mostly  occupied  with  mnemonics ; 
the  second,  written  in  Latin  hexameters,  deals  exclusively 
with  mathematics. 

It  is  with  the  first  group  that  we  have  to  do  at  present. 
Hallam,  in  speaking  of  the  works  on  memory,  dismisses 
them  as  “ unintelligible  chimeras,  confused  and  obscure 
rhapsodies,  strange  and  nonsensical  propositions ; ” and 

1 Bartliolmess  numbers  the  Grand  clavis  magnae  as  further  setting  forth 
Key  among  Bruno’s  lost  works,  these  matters  ; but  I do  not  know  it, 
Buhle  says,  “ Herein”  (in  Be  Umbris  nor  whether  and  where  it  has  been 
1 dearum ) “ Bruno  refers  to  a Liber  printed.” 


88 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


protests  with  some  temper  that  he  does  not  care  either  to 
comprehend  the  method  or  to  acquaint  himself  with  it. 
Accordingly  we  find  (vol.  ii.  p.  95)  that  the  Italian 
works,  in  themselves  plain  and  easy  enough,  have  tried 
his  patience  beyond  its  limits,  and  in  speaking  of  forms 
as  the  accidents  of  matter  he  is  attributing  to  Bruno  a 
doctrine  (W.  i.  251)  expressly  repudiated  by  him  some 
half-dozen  lines  lower  down  in  the  page  quoted.  A 
traveller  on  arriving  at  a Swedish  inn  found  written  on 
the  wall,  “ Here  is  excellent  entertainment  for  man  and 
beast  if  they  provide  it  themselves ; ” and  the  student  of 
an  obscure  foreign  philosophy  must  come  to  it  furnished 
with  a moderate  supply  of  patience  and  discernment.1 

However,  to  do  him  justice,  Hallam  is  not  singular  in 
his  ungracious  conduct.  Helfferich  in  his  pamphlet  on 
Lully  (Berlin,  1858)  says  that  if  Aristotelian  and  Bibli- 
cal symbols  were  shaken  up  in  a hat,  Christianity  and 
metaphysics  would  appear  in  novel  combinations,  and 
the  art  of  Lully  would  be  reproduced.  Helfferich 
believes  he  has  traced  in  Lully  the  influence  of  an 
Arabic  philosopher,  Bathliusi,  whose  work  Be  Sphceris 
Spemlcttivis  was  translated  into  Hebrew.  “ The  method 
of  the  great  art,”  says  Trendelenburg,  “ is  combina- 
tion. The  art  does  not  answer  the  question  whether 
these  combinations  are  possible  in  reality  ; it  merely  pro- 
duces them  in  representation.” 

“ Old  Raymond  Lully,”  as  he  is  called  by  Charles 
Lamb,  “ the  Illuminated  Doctor,”  as  he  was  known  to  his 
disciples,  was  born  about  1235  at  Palma,  the  capital  of 
Majorca,  whither  liis  father  had  gone  with  James  I. 
of  Arragon,  when  this  prince  took  the  island  from  the 
Saracens  to  punish  them  for  ill-treating  his  ambassador. 
He  was  by  origin  a Catalonian,  of  that  rough  mountain 
stock  which  was  later  to  mingle  its  blood  with  the 

1 Burton  in  Iris  Anatomy  of  M cl  an-  others,”  as  a cure  for  melancholy, 
choly  (I.)  prescribes  the  - study  of  and,  in  Dr.  Johnson’s  words,  “there 
the  Art  of  Memory,  lately  revived  is  great  spirit  and  great  power  in 
by  Copernicus,  Brunus,  and  some  what  Burton  says.” 


THE  ART  OF  RAYMOND  LULLY. 


89 


conquerors  of  Naples  and  of  tlie  Spanish  Indies.  Sprung 
from  this  sturdy  race,  Lully  caught  the  spirit  of  the  times. 
His  plan  was  decided  by  a dream.  He  lay  at  the  foot 
of  a lentisk  tree,  and  on  its  leaves  he  beheld  a multitude 
of  characters  resembling  Turkish  or  Arabic  letters.  No 
sooner  had  he  woke  than  he  believed  himself  called  to  a 
sacred  mission  of  evangelisation.  He  imagined  he  had 
discovered  an  infallible  means  of  convincing  infidels  of  the 
truth  of  Christianity  by  mathematical  demonstration,  and 
the  signs  and  characters  of  his  art  were  to  produce  by 
no  less  a method  than  multiplication  the  great  doctrines 
of  the  faith,  such  as  the  Trinity  and  others.  He  taught 
that  mysteries  were  not  opposed  to  reason,  and  he  applied 
himself  zealously  to  the  Oriental  languages,  that  he  might 
preach  the  Christian  faith  to  infidels,  composing  a method 
(his  General  Art)  by  which  he  sought  to  show  that  attri- 
butes the  most  elevated  dwell  in  common  things  and  lie 
at  the  root  of  their  existence. 

The  clue  that  had  fallen  from  the  hand  of  Lully  was 
seized  by  Bruno,  who  at  once  detected  all  the  advantages 
promised  by  the  Grand  Art.  His  playful  fancy,  his 
memory  stored  with  classical  allusions,  his  profound  and 
original  mind,  gave  him  the  advantages  which  he  ascribed 
to  the  art,  but  which  in  truth  were  altogether  independent 
qualities.  Like  modern  aids  to  memory,  the  art  of  Lully 
was  founded  on  the  fact  that  that  part  of  the  mind  which 
we  call  memory — “ la  partie  la  plus  viaterielle  de  Vintelli- 
gence  ” — has  a mechanical  function  which  can  be  trained 
and  perfected  by  mechanical  means.  Lully  differed  from 
the  Greek  and  Roman  logicians  and  rhetoricians.  Their 
system  of  mnemonics  consisted  of  mere  aggregates  of 
general  conceptions,  commonplaces,  and  psychologic  rules  ; 
while  Lully  composed  tables  of  those  fundamental  con- 
ceptions in  which  all  present  conceptions  are  compre- 
hended, or  out  of  which  future  conceptions  can  be  con- 
structed ; on  these  he  bestowed  symbols,  flattering  himself 
that  he  had  discovered  how  to  simplify  the  cumbersome 


9° 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


methods  of  past  dialecticians  and  metaphysicians,  and  to 
lay  open  fresh  paths  in  science. 

The  key  of  the  whole  lay  in  the  association  of  ideas, 
because  if  a symbol  represented  a fact,  which  led  to  a 
chain  of  facts,  it  was  necessary  to  remember  the  first  fact, 
or  the  whole  system  fell  to  the  ground.  The  subject  and 
the  attribute,  however,  were  not  associated  without  reason, 
and  the  whole  was  represented  to  the  eye  in  certain  circles 
or  frames,  forming  a species  of  logical  and  metaphysical 
calculating  machine.  These  circles  were  six  in  number, 
and  were  concentric.  Each  was  larger  than  the  other, 
and  they  were  so  contrived  as  to  lie  on  each  other  and  to 
turn.  Two  circles  indicated  the  subjects,1  three  the  attri- 
butes, and  the  last  and  outermost  circle — which  stood 
alone — contained  the  questions,  and  was  called  the  key  of 
the  invention.  The  first  of  the  movable  closed  circles 
(which  was  the  circle  nearest  to  the  circle  of  questions) 
was  devoted  to  the  nine  essential  categories  of  beings. 
The  second  contained  the  nine  classes  of  attributes  of 
physical  being ; the  third  the  attributes  of  the  moral 
being,  which  were  also  divided  into  nine  classes,  nine 
virtues,  and  nine  vices  ; the  fourth  and  fifth  contained 
relative  and  absolute  attributes  of  physical  and  meta- 
physical being;  the  absolute  attributes  under  the  three 
heads  of  being,  unity,  and  perfection,  the  relative  attri- 
butes as  definition,  division,  and  collection  ( collectio ). 

All  knowledge  exists  in  the  combination  of  ideas  ; and 
if  there  is  a method  of  discovering  all  possible  combina- 
tions of  ideas,  the  road  to  all  knowledge  is  laid  open. 
Different  trains  of  fundamental  conceptions  were  re- 
presented in  letters  on  the  thinking  machine,  like  the 
figures  on  the  face  of  a clock  ; and  every  kind  of  com- 
bination was  produced  by  setting  the  circles  in  motion. 
When  the  subjects  were  brought  in  contact  with  the 
attributes,  propositions  and  axioms  were  produced  in  such 

1 For  illustrative  diagrams  see  the  Compendium  of  Architecture  (Gfr.  244, 
245,  254). 


THE  ART  OF  LULLY. 


9i 


a vast  number  of  combinations  that  “ at  the  end  of  a 
thousand  years  they  would  be  past  counting,  even 
reckoning  a million  in  every  hour.”  Lully  believed  he 
had  opened  out  a new  province  for  the  human  mind,  and 
that  he  had  made  not  the  demonstration  only,  but  the 
actual  discovery  of  fresh  fields  of  thought,  an  exercise 
easy  and  mathematically  certain. 

The  method  was  designed  for  the  treatment  of  various 
subjects  by  directing  them  all  towards  the  principles 
of  the  highest  philosophy,  but  it  degenerated  into  mere 
disputes  and  declamation  ; it  became  an  art  for  discussing 
rather  than  for  acquiring  science,  and  men  came  at  last 
to  believe  they  were  practising  the  grand  art  when  they 
were  occupied  with  pedantic  quibbles,  or  with  what  Bacon 
calls  “ the  canker  of  epitomes.”  1 

The  insufficiency  of  the  art  of  Lully  as  soon  as  it  was 
put  to  the  proof  could  not  fail  to  be  noticed.  Memory, 
as  Locke  says,  “ is  the  storehouse  of  our  ideas.”  The 
more  the  storehouse  is  widened,  strengthened,  and 


1 In  speaking  of  Lully,  Bacon  says 
( Advancement  of  Learning,  Book  ii. 
17.  14),  “There  hath  been  also 
labouredandput  in  practice  a method 
which  is  not  a lawful  method,  but  a 
method  of  imposture ; which  is  to  de- 
liver knowledges  in  such  manner  as 
men  may  speedily  come  to  make  a 
show  of  learning  who  have  it  not. 
Such  was  the  travail  of  Raymundus 
Lullius  in'makingthat  art  whichbears 
his  name,  not  unlike  to  some  books  of 
typoeosmy,  which  have  been  made 
since,  being  nothing  but  a mass 
of  words  of  all  arts  to  give  men 
countenance  that  those  which  use 
the  terms  might  be  thought  to 
understand  the  art — which  collec- 
tions are  much  like  a fripper’s  or 
broker’s  shop  that  hath  ends  of 
everything,  but  nothing  of  worth.” 
Again  he  says  (Book  ii.  15,  3), 
“For the  other  principal  part  of  the 
custody  of  knowledge,  which  is 
memory,  I find  that  faculty  in  my 
judgment  weakly  inquired  of.  An 


art  there  is-  extant  of  it,  but  it 
seemetli  to  me  that  there  are  better 
precepts  than  that  art  and  better 
practices  of  that  art  than  those  re- 
ceived. It  is  certain  the  art  (as  it 
is)  may  be  raised  to  a point  of  ostenta- 
tion prodigious  ; but  in  use  (as  it 
is  now  managed)  it  is  barren,  not 
burdensome  nor  dangerous  to  natural 
memory,  as  is  imagined,  but  barren, 
that  is,  not  dexterous  to  be  applied 
to  the  serious  use  of  business  and 
occasions.  And,  therefore,  I make 
no  more  estimation  of  repeating  a 
great  number  of  names  or  words 
upon  once  hearing  . . . than  I do  of 
the  tricks  of  tumblers,  . . . the  one 
being  the  same  in  the  mind  that  the 
other  is  in  the  body,  matters  of 
strangeness  without  worthiness.”  In 
another  part  of  the  same  book, 
Bacon  says,  “ By  means  of  this 
science  he  who  knows  the  words  of 
an  art  believes  he  has  acquired  the 
very  art  itself ; ” and  in  another  place 
he  calls  it  “ metkodus  impostura.” 


92 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


generally  enlarged,  the  better.  But  a memory  in  itself 
excellent,  such  as  that  of  a bird  when  he  learns  a tune, 
may  be  without  reflection,  and  therefore  useless ; while  a 
memory  applied  to  fruitful  labour  has  rich  and  varied 
treasures,  each  justly  balanced,  compact,  and  confederating. 
Minds  of  the  latter  class,  like  Jack  in  the  fairy  tale,  could 
climb  on  a beanstalk  into  heaven,  while  the  former  could 
never  rise  above  the  ground,  even  if  Jacob’s  ladder  were 
at  their  doors. 

To  expect  too  much  of  a mechanical  aid  to  memory  is 
to  require  a man  to  become  a painter  by  practising  the 
stencil,  or  a sculptor  by  moulding  a hat  or  a pair  of  boots. 
In  this  manner  the  deficiencies  of  the  art  struck  all  the 
thinkers  who  had  first  looked  to  it  for  help.  It  made  no 
deductions,  it  developed  nothing,  ready-made  conceptions 
were  mechanically  tacked  to  attributes  and  questions,  and 
the  scheme  produced  resembled  thought  as  a barrel-organ 
resembles  a nightingale. 

What,  it  may  be  asked,  was  the  attraction  to  Bruno’s 
passionate  and  imaginative  nature  in  an  art  which  was  the 
very  epitome  of  cut  and  dried  learning  ? The  mystic 
shrouded  meaning  veiled  under  the  emblems  of  the  art 
took  strong  hold  upon  his  imagination,  while  the  method 
appealed  to  his  reason,  which  revolted  against  Aristotle, 
whom  Lully  detested,  pronouncing  his  metaphysics  to  be 
a mere  barren  category,  and  his  morals  to  consist  of  ideas 
perceived  through  the  senses.  Besides,  Bruno  believed  in 
the  Grand  Art  as  a sovereign  means  of  conveying  to  the 
people  the  germ  of  his  philosophy,  which  is  the  dialectic 
of  Plato.  The  idea,  the  pure  archetypal  essence,  the 
unity  which  is  the  inexpressible  excellence  and  beauty  of 
all  things,  escapes  human  science.  But  as  a step  in  this 
direction  Plato  undertook  in  his  old  age  to  reduce  ideas  to 
numbers,  after  having  originally  developed  the  theory  of 
ideas  apart  from  all  consideration  of  their  relation  to 
numbers. 


THOUGHT  A MODE  OF  CALCULATION. 


93 


The  Platonic  idea  is  colourless,  without  figure,  imper- 
ceptible by  any  sense,  and  accessible  only  to  the  contem- 
plative view  of  the  reason.  The  Idea  is  eternal,  without 
origin  or  decay,  neither  increasing  nor  decreasing,  remain- 
ing absolutely  like  itself ; it  cannot  be  represented  by  the 
fancy,  because  it  is  not  a material  thing ; nor  is  it  a 
conception  and  form  of  knowledge ; it  is  not  wholly 
in  any  other  object  nor  in  any  living  being.  The  Idea 
has  with  the  individual  objects  corresponding  to  it  a cer- 
tain community  and  participation;  it  is  in  some  sense 
present  in  them,  though  in  part  only,  as  the  rays  of  the 
sun  estend  to  the  earth  ; yet  the  earth  is  not  the  sun  nor 
in  the  sun,  though  without  the  sun  we  cannot  conceive  of 
existence.  The  Idea  is  supreme  and  difficult  of  cognition  ; 
it  is  the  cause  of  all  truth  and  beauty.  To  it  objects  owe 
their  being  and  the  mind  its  power. 

Primarily,  therefore,  Bruno  looked  to  the  Lullic  art  as 
a swift  and  easy  expedient  for  conveying  abstract  ideas. 
Was  it  so  wonderful  that  he  should  seek  to  express  by 
signs  the  operations  of  reason  ? Why  should  logic  fail 
to  attain  a language  such  as  has  been  granted  to  mathe- 
matics ? 

From  time  immemorial  the  great  philosophers  had  looked 
for  a science  of  signs  such  as  that  offered  by  Lully. 
Among  the  Pythagoreans  ethical  notions  were  invested 
with  a mathematical  form,  and  symbols  filled  the  place  of 
definitions.  For  example,  justice  was  defined  by  them  as 
square  number,  by  which  it  was  intended  to  express  the 
correspondence  between  action  and  suffering,  or,  in  other 
words,  retribution. 

All  his  life  Bruno  cherished  the  hope  of  bring  the  art 
to  perfection,  and  in  this  he  was  not  singular. 

Leibnitz  never  abandoned  his  project  for  devising  an 
algebra  of  thought.  All  his  life  he  had  been  in  search  of 
a “ universal  language,”  a hieroglyph  containing  a species 
of  calculation  by  means  of  which  to  reason  in  that 
language  and  to  calculate  were  one  and  the  same ; and 


94 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


errors  in  reasoning  were  to  appear  as  plainly  as  errors  in 
calculation.  Bruno  was  persuaded  that  it  was  possible  to 
formulate  a logical  expression  of  the  ruling  order  of  the 
universe,  and  he  believed  that  by  defining  the  primary 
elements  of  thought  and  the  essential  laws  of  their  com- 
bination, the  very  root  and  essence  of  created  things 
would  be  laid  bare.  Locke1  shared  the  same  belief;  it 
is  the  fundamental  idea  of  Hegel’s  logic,  and  Dubois 
Raymond  and  Professor  Stanley  Jevons  are  of  opinion 
that  there  is  a quality  in  mathematics  which  is  inter- 
changeable with  logic. 

But  there  is  a depth  in  Bruno’s  conception  of  this  art,2 
and  a strength  and  freedom  in  his  treatment  to  which 
Lully  could  never  attain.  The  fundamental  unity  of 
being  and  thought,  the  supreme  identity  of  thing  and 
idea,  the  union  between  ideality  and  reality,  form  the 
principles  on  which  Bruno  believed  he  could  build  up  an 
imperishable  art. 

Language  and  memory  he  considered  identical  not  only 
with  thought,  but  with  the  nature  of  things  ; and  by  virtue 
of  the  primitive  essential  harmony  of  the  human  mind 
with  the  creation  he  believed  that  he  could  teach  the  har- 
mony which  exists  between  the  laws  of  intelligence  and 
the  permanent  manifestation  of  law  in  things.  He  hoped 
to  perfect  a method  for  connecting  universal  ideas  with 
real  knowledge,  while  furnishing  rules  for  discussion  and 
directions  for  the  exercise  of  thought  and  of  speech.  The 
pupil  was  to  learn  not  only  how  to  expound,  to  attack, 
and  to  defend,  but  to  combine  conceptions,  to  form  new 
ideas,  to  conceive  all  which  is  or  can  be ; not  to  think 
alone,  but  to  use  the  thoughts  of  others. 

Thus  the  art  would  be  profitable  in  the  sense  of  Sir 

1 On  the  Human  Understanding , Valerio  dei  Valerii,  Petrus  Tholo- 

“ Semeiotica.”  sanus,  Julius  Paccius,  Alstedius, 

2 Berti  adds  to  the  number  of  &c.  Brueker  speaks  of  the  art  as 
masters  professing  the  Lullian  art  having  been  highly  esteemed  in 
the  names  of  Duns  Scotus,  Lefevre,  Germany. 

Buuilly,  Paracelsus  (the  three  last  A catalogue  of  the  works  of  Lully 
are  mentioned  by  Bruno,  Gfr.  628),  is  in  the  Escufial  Library. 


THE  ALGEBRA  OF  THOUGHT. 


95 


Joshua  Reynolds  when  he  said,  “ He  who  has  the  most 
materials  has  the  greatest  means  of  invention ; and  if  he 
has  not  the  power  of  using  them,  it  must  proceed  from 
a feebleness  of  intellect,  or  from  the  confused  manner 
in  which  those  collections  have  been  laid  up  in  his  mind.” 
Out  of  nothing,  nothing  can  come.  The  “ sursum  corda,” 
as  Bruno  himself  says,  “ is  not  said  to  all  men,  but 
to  those  who  have  wings”  (W.  ii.  403). 

“ To  an  atheist,”  says  Montaigne,  “ all  writings  tend 
to  atheism  ; he  corrupts  the  most  innocent  matter  with 
his  own  venom  ; ” and,  in  fact,  to  a genius  all  methods 
tend  to  genius ; but  except  to  a genius  the  method  of 
Lully  was  dry  and  dull.  Lully  was  dry  and  dull  to 
such  a degree  that  Bruno  himself  apologises  for  his 
repetitions  (Gfr.  281,  282,  265),  and,  indeed,  once 
accuses  him  of  a mean  and  mad  spirit  {pauper  . . . semper 
idem  . . . delirando  tentavit). 

It  was  far  otherwise  with  Bruno.  Solger,  the  German 
philosopher,  writes  of  him  that  his  poetic  inspiration  was 
such  as  to  compel  him  to  express  himself  in  verse.1  In 
him  poetry  was  a passion,  which,  working  silently  within 
him,  transformed  his  nature;  and  by  a thousand  appar- 
ently aimless  or  sportive  touches,  by  his  lofty  and  power- 
ful themes,  by  his  conceptions  vaster  and  more  splendid 
than  any  vouchsafed  to  common  men,  we  are  bidden  to 
recognise  the  handiwork  of  genius.  Hegel,  in  his  Lec- 
tures on  the  History  of  Philosophy , says  of  Bruno,  “ The 
most  striking  characteristic  of  his  writing  is  its  inspira- 
tion. The  spirit  dwelling  within  him  knows  the  unity  of 
its  being  and  of  all  being.”  He  then  speaks  of  Bruno’s 
luxuriant  fancy  as  “ Bacchantic  ; ” and  Carriere  says  of 

1 It  was  related  of  tlie  renowned  tailed  on  him  by  that  action,  for 
Dr.  Watts  that  the  same  obligation  Quakers  have  a conscientious  objec- 
w.as  conferred  on  him  by  Nature,  tion  to  graven  and  molten  images, 
and  that  on  being  whipped  by  his  The  repression  ought  to  have  been 
father  for  writing  verses,  he  asked  indefinitively  extended ; to  spare  the 
pardon  in  poetry,  and  got  another  rod  was  to  spoil  the  artist.  “Art,” 
beating.  When  Benjamin  West  said  an  amateur  to  Constable,  “ is  a 
made  paint  brushes  out  of  the  cat’s  passion  with  me.”  “ It  is  a bad 
tail,  personal  chastisement  was  en-  passion,”  replied  the'great  painter. 


96 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


him,  “ The  personal  energy  of  his  thoughts  endows  him 
with  vivid  dramatic  power  ; he  writes  in  verse  because  he 
discerns  that  unity  is  all  things  and  all  things  are  unity  ; 
the  harmony  of  the  universe  possesses  him,  like  a chord 
of  the  cosmic  lyre  of  Apollo.”  Carriere  concludes  his 
appreciative  and  excellent  criticism  by  saying  that  Bruno’s 
spirit,  thus  attuned  to  the  music  of  the  spheres,  could  not 
fail  to  manifest  itself  in  harmonious  expression,  quoting 
in  illustration  some  admirably-rendered  lines  in  German 
from  De  Immenso  (p.  201,  Fiorentino’s  edition),  which 
may  be  roughly  translated  thus  : — 

“ ’Tis  thou,  0 Spirit,  dost  within  my  soul 
This  weakly  thought  with  thine  own  life  amend, 

Eejoieing,  dost  thy  rapid  pinions  lend 
Me,  and  dost  wing  me  to  that  lofty  goal 
Where  secret  portals  ope  and  fetters  break, 

And  thou  dost  grant  me,  by  thy  grace  complete, 

Fortune  to  spurn,  and  death  ; 0 high  retreat, 

Which  few  attain,  and  fewer  yet  forsake  ! . . . 

Girdled  with  gates  of  brass  in  every  part, 

Prisoned  and  bound  in  vain,  ’tis  mine  to  rise 
Through  sparkling  fields  of  air  to  pierce  the  skies, 

Sped  and  accoutred  by  no  doubting  heart, 

Till,  raised  on  clouds  of  contemplation  vast, 

Light,  leader,  law,  Creator,  I attain  at  last.” 

Again,  when  contemplating,  as  in  a vision,  the  heights 
| and  the  nether  world,  Bruno  invokes  the  love  which 
; unites  sea  and  sky  and  the  earth  our  mother,  and  prays 
that  love  may  wound  and  quicken  him  till  darkness  is 
changed  into  light,  and  he,  becoming  one  vast  eye,  may 
behold  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future  hovering 
around  him  in  an  encircling  procession.1  Solger  speaks 
of  these  poetic  outpourings  as  hymns  of  philosophy,  and 
remarks  with  some  acuteness  that  Bruno  appears  to  have 
attained  philosophy  by  means  of  mysticism. 

With  such  vigorous  characteristics  it  is  impossible 

1 This  idea  will  be  found  in  some  of  the  sonnets  in  The  Heroic  Rapture. 


THE  ART  OF  LULLY. 


97 


Bruno  should  fall  into  the  dulness  and  dryness  of  his 
master  Lully.  All  his  life  he  had  felt  the  need  of  giving 
his  thoughts  poetic  expression,  and  even  the  Grand  Art 
was  invested  by  him  with  the  pictures  and  symbols,  with 
the  allegoric  subtlety  and  admirable  variety  of  his  own 
creative  fancy.  All  that  fantastic  scholasticism,  hiero- 
glyphic designs,  kabbalistic  and  geometric  quibbles,  dia- 
logues, verses,  and  even  play  of  words  could  do  to  vary 
and  enliven  the  subject  was  done  by  Bruno.  His  dif- 
ferent books  on  the  art  are,  as  Bartholmess  says,  different 
aspects  of  one  country ; and  a general  survey  of  them  is 
all  that  is  necessary,  for  the  aim  of  each  is  to  demon- 
strate the  point  of  unity  in  which  both  reality  and 
ideality  are  combined  and  from  which  they  are  de- 
veloped. Thus  man  must  turn  to  the  foundation-head  ; 
to  the  Divine  Being  from  whom  all  things  emanate,  and 
in  whom  they  are ; to  the  inspiration  of  that  Being 
which  permits  one  in  union  with  Him  to  participate  in 
Him  and  to  comprehend  all  things.  This  view  is  clearly 
derived  from  the  Kabbalah.  It  will  be  necessary  later 
to  notice  a certain  relationship  between  Spinoza  and 
Bruno.  Spinoza  was  called  by  Kant  “ the  Cartesian  of 
the  Kabbalah,”  and  it  may  have  been  on  the  common 
meeting -ground  of  Hebrew  philosophy  that  the  two 
thinkers  acquired  a certain  likeness  in  their  ideas. 
Bruno’s  leaning  towards  Platonism,  his  fervid  and  bold 
imagination,  and  his  love  of  mysticism  combined  to 
throw  him  on  the  Kabbalah.  But  he  imprinted  all  he 
touched  with  the  sign  manual  of  his  own  individuality. 
His  poetic  genius  came  to  his  aid,  and  showed  him  that 
the  world  is  not  a mere  concourse  of  barren  images 
multiplied  by  each  other  in  endless  rotation.  The  figures 
of  which  he  made  use  were  types  not  of  earth  but  of 
heaven ; a double  significance  waited  on  these  symbols  ; 
they  were  real  shadows  of  ideal  things ; and  in  this  way 
he  hoped  to  reconcile  the  warring  schools,  and  to  show 
the  link  between  ideality  and  reality.  The  words  by 


93 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


wliicli  objects  are  represented  to  our  senses  are  signs  ; 
the  objects  themselves  are  forms;  they  are  the  shadows 
of  ideas,  eternal  and  creative,  and  they  proceed  from  the 
Creator. 

This  sublime  mission  Bruno  believed  himself  called 
upon  to  expound  and  to  lead ; and  in  the  Kabbalah  he 
found  the  term  which  denominates  Divine  Wisdom — 
Chocmali , the  inaccessible  light  which  is  beyond  the 
world  and  humanity.  Being  infinite,  it  is  known  only 
to  infinity ; and  thus  in  its  fulness  “ the  Divine  super- 
natural Essence”  ( Wagner , i.  233),  “the  most  high 
contemplation  of  which  rises  beyond  Nature”  (ib.  275), 

“ is  debarred  from  our  consideration.” 

This  principle,  according  to  the  Kabbalah,  descends 
within  the  grasp  of  our  comprehension  by  means  of  ten 
Sephiroth  or  Intelligences,  to  which  it  communicates 
itself.  The  Kabbalah  permits,  and  even  enjoins,  the  use 
of  allegory.  From  the  figure  of  an  archetypal  man, 
of  whom  the  earthly  man  is  a faint  copy,  emanate  in- 
telligences, powers,  and  angelic  principalities  like  rays 
from  the  sun ; they  differ  from  each  other  and  from 
the  sun ; and  they  form  a strict  unity.  The  mysticism 
of  the  Hebrew  doctors  endows  these  Intelligences  with 
sex.  The  right  side  of  the  archetypal  Man  (with  the 
Intelligences  flowing  from  it)  is  masculine,  and  represents 
J ustice  ; his  left  side  is  feminine,  and  represents  Mercy. 
The  union  of  these  Intelligences  produces  the  universe 
in  their  image ; and  the  crown  and  completion  of  the 
universe  is  Man.  “ Just  as  we  see  in  the  firmament  above, 
covering  all  things,  different  signs  which  are  formed  of 
the  stars  and  the  planets,  and  which  contain  secret  things 
and  profound  mysteries  studied  by  those  who  are  wise 
and  expert  in  these  things ; so  there  are  in  the  skin, 
which  is  the  cover  of  the  body  of  the  son  of  man,  and 
which  is  like  the  sky  that  covers  all  things  above,  signs 
and  features  which  are  stars  and  planets  of  the  skin, 
indicating  secret  things  and  profound  mysteries  whereby 


THE  KABBALAH. 


99 


tlie  wise  are  attracted  wlio  understand  the  reading  of 
the  mysteries  of  the  human  face  ” ( Zoliar , ii.  76  ; quoted 
by  Ginsburg,  art.  “ Kabbalah,'-’  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
ed.  1881). 

A full  description  of  the  procession  of  the  Intelligences 
from  the  Supreme  Light  will  be  found  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Cabal  (W.  ii.  266,  267);  and  in  the  Expulsion 
(W.  ii.  228),  where  the  subject  is  developed,  it  receives 
striking  and  masterly  treatment.  After  tracing  the  Kab- 
balah to  Egypt,  through  Moses,  who  was  learned  in  all 
the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,  Bruno  points  out  the  like- 
ness between  religious  systems,  and  their  equality,  as 
modes  of  attaining  to  the  true  God.  The  Ineffable  Name 
which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Intelligences,  and  from 
which,  in  their  various  degrees,  all  lower  excellences 
proceed,  is  represented  in  “ the  magical  and  divine  wor- 
ship of  Egypt,”  by  “the  God  of  gods,  and  the  Fountain 
of  ideas  above  Nature.”  The  Powers  and  Intelligences 
lower  in  the  Hebrew  scale  stand  for  the  ancient  gods 
which  preside  over  the  various  benevolences  of  Nature. 
To  ask  the  sea  for  fish  was  to  call  upon  Neptune ; when 
the  sun  was  entreated  to  shine,  he  was  invoked  as  Apollo  ; 
the  earth  became  Ceres,  and  the  woods  Diana.  But  these 
seeming  gods  in  Nature  were  in  truth  various  ideas  of 
God,  who  is  above  Nature  (W.  ii.  228). 

“ Thus  in  all  things  whatever,  and  in  every  effect,  each 
in  its  own  degree,  the  ancients  beheld  Divinity ; and 
they  knew  all  things  after  their  kind  in  the  lap  of  Earth, 
and  how  to  obtain  them,  and  their  virtues”  ( W . ii.  228). 
Bruno  then  brings  the  subject  to  a striking  and  em- 
phatic close.  Using  the  inductive  method,  he  argues,  in 
an  ascending  scale,  from  the  particular  to  the  general, 
from  the  gifts  to  the  giver,  from  that  which  is  beautiful 
and  wisely  contrived  to  Beauty  and  Wisdom.  Here  we 
may  descry  clearly  the  connection  between  the  Platonic 
doctrine  and  the  Kabbalah,  with  their  influence  on  the 
philosophy  of  Bruno. 


100 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


The  conception  is  made  plain  by  reducing  it  to  a 
rough  table. 

Q Supreme  Light  and  Platonic  Fountain  of  Ideas. 


0 Virtues  and  Intelligences. 


O Material  Gifts. 

Man  is  placed  side  by  side  with  this  conception.  In 
the  lowest  stage  of  his  intelligence  man  perceives  God  pas- 
sively and  through  the  medium  of  his  own  wants  and 
comforts.  This  is  a concrete  conception,  and  corresponds 
with  the  stage  marked  Material  Gifts  in  our  table.  In 
the  next  stage  God  is  made  manifest  actively  by  his 
qualities  or  attributes.  This  is  an  abstract  conception, 
and  corresponds  with  the  degree  marked  Virtues  and 
Intelligences  in  the  table. 

In  the  last  and  highest  stage,  God  is  known  not  by 
his  gifts  only,  nor  by  his  gilts  and  his  attributes,  but 
as  himself.  Being  infinite,  he  cannot  be  known  by  the 
i finite.  This  degree,  therefore,  is  beyond  our  grasp,  and  is 
the  proper  logical  standing-ground  of  faith.  . . . (“  The 
knowledge  of  not  knowing  brings  forth  faith,”  Cusa.) 

It  is  in  establishing  the  link  between  these  concep- 
tions, in  announcing  their  true  place  to  be  in  man’s 
intelligence,  in  claiming  value  for  every  religion,  and  in 
declaring  the  relation  of  all  religions  to  God  that  Bruno’s 
greatness  lies.  “ So,”  he  concludes,  “ every  man  in  his  own 
tongue  calls  upon  a God,  an  angel,  an  intelligence,  a power, 
yet  in  the  end  the  whole  deity  is  found  to  be  one  source,  as 
all  light  is  of  the  first  Principle,  which  in  itself  is  lucid ; and 
as  the  images  which  are  in  diverse  and  countless  mirrors 


THE  ART  OF  LULLY. 


IOI 


(or  individual  subjects)  are  of  one  formal  and  ideal  prin- 
ciple, which  is  their  source.” 

The  system  of  Lully  was,  at  the  best,  but  a crutch ; 
yet  Bruno  cherished  hopes  that  it  would  become  like 
Aaron’s  rod,  which  budded ; that  it  would  work  miracles, 
and  be  at  last  laid  up  in  that  “ vast  temple  which  is  our 
earth,  the  palace  and  shrine  of  the  Most  High.” 

Only  the  desire  to  prove  the  unity  of  thought  and 
being  in  strict  mathematical  terms  could  have  induced 
Bruno  to  espouse  a method  in  all  respects  opposed  to  his 
nature.  He  found  a system  of  empty  and  barren  out- 
lines. Aided  by  his  knowledge  of  the  classics,  he  en- 
larged and  beautified  the  art,  and  did  with  a desert 
and  sandy  soil  all  that  learning,  ingenuity,  and  vigour 
could  accomplish.  The  Grand  Art  was  to  be  more  than 
a mere  tool,  more  than  a “ key,”  a “ weapon,”  or  a 
“torch.”  Future  generations  were  to  receive  it  at  the 
hand  of  philosophy ; it  was  to  be  the  very  edifice,  light,  and 
treasure  of  truth.  The  unity  of  science,  developed  and 
applied  by  the  Grand  Art,  was  to  replace  the  Organon 
of  the  Stagyrite.  The  laws  of  reason  are  unchanging, 
because  they  are  divine ; the  universe  follows  them  like 
their  shadow,  their  evidence  is  irresistible,  their  authority 
is  supreme  ; they  constitute  the  unity  of  the  thinker  with 
thought,  of  the  mind  with  knowledge. 

This  sense  of  mystic  unity  is  altogether  opposed  to  the 
method  of  Aristotle.  His  categories,  Bruno  says  frankly, 
lead  to  no  end.  They  are  confused ; and  their  point  of 
departure  is  from  probability,  not  from  proof.  But  Bruno 
required  a philosophic  system,  producing  the  very  prin- 
ciples of  the  highest  science,  the  essential  ideas,  and  the 
primitive  elements  of  truth.  Perhaps,  too,  he  looked  to  his 
art  to  recover  the  faded  traces  of  the  former  life,  in  which 
Socrates  and  Plato  believed,  and  to  which  St.  Augustine 
himself  did  not  deny  a title  of  nobility  ( Socrccticum  illucl 
nobillisivium  inventum,  St.  Aug.,  ep.  vii.  conf.  x.  12, 
26,  27). 


102 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  Bacon  himself,  who  could 
not  tolerate  Lully,  considers  the  memory  ( rctincre ) as  one 
I of  the  four  essential  parts  of  his  method.  But  Bruno 
desired  to  apply  this  marvellous  faculty  of  memory  not 
to  the  mere  vulgar  facts  of  personal  history,  but  to  the 
eternal  history  of  the  universe  and  of  humanity  ; to  that 
which  is,  rather  than  to  that  which  passes  away  ; to  being 
and  the  Idea,  not  to  shadows  and  figures.  “ Antiquity,” 
he  says  (Gfr.  306,  345,  359,  360,  558),  “was  astounded 
by  the  progress  possible  to  the  memory  which  rises  from 
a vast  store  of  notions  to  a notion  in  its  turn  containing 
the  germs  of  fresh  subjects  of  thought.”  But  antiquity 
laid  down  no  rules  for  the  mind  in  the  development  of 
the  memory,  and  these  it  was  Bruno’s  desire  to  supply. 
A well-formed  judgment  must  either  extend  the  sphere  of 
our  knowledge  or  enlighten  it,  and  Bruno  looked  to  the 
Grand  Art  as  the  means  of  arriving  at  well-balanced  judg- 
ments by  a mechanical  process.  The  march  of  thought 
must  be  regulated  by  law  ; it  rests  on  a foundation  which 
observation  reveals  but  does  not  create.  Thought  in  a 
sane  and  orderly  condition  operates  with  the  regularity  of 
arithmetical  and  geometric  progression ; and  he  believed 
it  unreasonable  that  there  should  be  any  l'adical  opposi- 
tion between  the  laws  governing  the  mind  and  matter, 
between  our  conceptions  and  the  real  objects  on  which 
they  are  based. 

But  the  toughness  and  ingratitude  of  the  art  forced 
its  enthusiastic  advocate  in  several  of  his  works  to  exhort 
the  reader  to  patience,  and  to  encourage  him  with  the 
assurance  that  great  things  are  designed  by  the  gods  to 
be  difficult  of  attainment  (Gfr.  206,  335).  He  is  so  per- 
suaded of  the  rare  excellence  and  use  of  the  method  that 
he  counts  it  an  honour  to  be  a Lullist  (628).  He  was 
attracted  as  a lad  (Gfr.  526)  by  discerning  the  fact  that 
beneath  the  signs  and  symbols  of  Lullism  lay  a philosophic 
doctrine  which  had  escaped  the  master  himself  (2  5 2,  278, 
260,  242).  The  spark  (modica  favilla-sparsum  semen , 


“ THE  MONAD." 


103 


527)  which  caught  his  imagination  was  the  point,  the 
Monad,  the  atom  ; that  from  which  all  things  proceed  ; 
and  this,  with  some  prescience  of  modern  thought,  he  calls 
the  germ  of  the  immensity  of  the  universe.  Thus,  while 
retaining  the  letter  of  Lullism,  Bruno  completely  reformed 
the  spirit  of  the  art ; and  the  Monacl , one  of  his  best 
works,  though  owning  the  influence  of  Lully,  attains  in 
its  wide  scope  and  lofty  aim  to  enlightenment  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  Catalonian  monk. 


( 104  ) 


CHAPTER  V. 

“ History  is  a council  in  perpetuity,  in  which  the  voice  of  every  nation  is 
heard,  living  voices  which  are  the  echoes  of  Providence.  Nothing 
can  prevail  against  the  assembly  of  the  ages  ; private  excommuni- 
cations and  anathemas  are  empty  forms  in  the  hour  of  universal 
alliance  and  reconciliation.” — Edgar  Quinet. 


England,  1583-85.  M.  Castelnau  de  Mauvissi&ve.  Doctrine  of  Ecstasy. 

Traces  of  German  Mysticism.  Bruno  at  Oxford,  June  1583.  His 

Lectures  on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul.  The  Printer  Vautrollier. 

Sidney. 

Having  printed  a comedy  entitled  the  Candle-Bearer, 
which  was  probably  composed  some  years  before,  in  a 
Neapolitan  cloister,  Bruno  took  his  departure  from  Paris. 
Clement  (. Bibliotheque  Curieuse,  vol.  v.  294)  marks  the 
Candle-Bearer  “ very  rare,”  and  says,  “With  all  the  care  I 
have  taken  to  look  for  this  piece  in  the  greatest  libraries, 
and  even  in  foreign  countries,  I have  not  been  able  to 
find  it.”  Abbe  Goujet  mentions  the  comedy  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Franqaise  (vol.  viii.),  and  he  says  of  the 
French  translation,  Boniface  et  le  Pddant,  that  it  is  anony- 
mous, in  prose,  and  ill-written.  Tiraboschi  does  not  appear 
to  have  read  the  play ; and  Lewes,  in  his  Biographical 
History  of  Philosophy,  copies  the  analysis  given  by  Bar- 
tholmess,  perhaps  on  the  principle  of  Piron,  who,  when 
speaking  of  our  literary  forerunners,  says,  “ Leurs  Merits 
sont  des  vols  qu’ils  nous  ont  faits  d’avance.”  Ueberweg 
says  in  his  History  of  Philosophy  (vol.  ii.  p.  26),  “Ac- 
cording to  the  theory  of  Falkson  ( Giordano  Bruno,  p.  289) 
and  of  Benno  Tschischwitz  (Shakespeare’s  Hamlet;  Halle, 
1868),  Shakespeare  became  acquainted  with  a comedy 


“ HAMLET. 


i°5 


entitled  El  Candelajo  (sic),  written  by  Bruno  while  resid- 
ing in  London  (1583—86),  and  perhaps  with  others  of 
his  writings,  and  derived  from  them  some  of  the  ideas — 
particularly  on  the  subject  of  the  indestructibility  of  the 
material  elements  and  the  relativity  of  evil — which  he 
expresses  by  the  mouth  of  the  Danish  Prince.” 

A passage  which  has  excited  comment,  because  of  its 
resemblance  to  Shakespeare,  will  be  found  in  the  Dialogues 
of  the  Cause  (W.  i.  253) — “ Seest  thou  not  that  what  was 
seed  becomes  grass,  the  grass  becomes  corn,  the  corn 
becomes  bread,  bread  becomes  chyle,  blood,  man ; the 
man  becomes  a corpse,  and  that  turns  to  earth,  and  so 
forth,  till  all  things  attain  to  all  the  forms  of  Nature.” 

“ To  me,”  says  Furness,  “ this  similarity  is  of  the 
faintest ; ” yet  the  passage  may  suggest  a comparison 
with  Hamlet’s  speech  to  Horatio  (act  v.  scene  1 ). 
“ Why  may  not  imagination  trace  the  noble  dust  of 
Alexander  till  he  find  it  stopping  a bunghole  ? ...  As 
thus  : Alexander  died,  Alexander  was  buried  ; the  dust  is 
earth  ; of  earth  we  make  loam  ; and  why  of  that  loam, 
whereto  he  was  converted,  might  they  not  stop  a beer- 
barrel  ? ” 

Tschischwitz  marks  for  comparison  with  Bruno  the  pas- 
sage in  which  Octavio  asks  Manfurio,  “ What  is  the  matter 
of  your  verse  ? ” and  Manfurio  answers,  “ Words,  words, 
words.”  The  excellent  Mrs.  Pott,  in  her  Promus,  lands 
herself  in  a slough  of  despond  when  founding  a theory 
of  identity  on  the  fact  that  Shakespeare  and  Lord  Bacon 
wrote  “ Good-morrow.”  What  could  any  man  read  but 
words  ? Tschischwitz,  however,  goes  further,  and  the 
reader  fares  worse.  When  Polonius  is  answered  by 
“ Slanders,  sir ; for  the  satirical  rogue  says  here  that 
old  men  have  grey  beards,”  and  so  forth,  Tschischwitz 
believes  Hamlet  must  have  been  reading  Bruno’s  Expul-  ■ 
sion,  because  it  contains  a like  description  of  old  age. 
Was  not  Hamlet’s  reply  dictated  by  his  own  “ antic  dis- 
position,” and  by  the  appearance  of  Polonius,  as  children 


io6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


sometimes  pretend  to  read  correction  to  tlieir  elders  out 
of  books  ? Furness,  in  his  New  Variorum  Shakespeare, 
dismisses  the  suggestion  of  Tschischwitz.  But,  quoting 
from  Klein’s  History  of  the  Drama , Furness  adds  that 
Bruno  delivered  lectures  at  Wittenberg  during  the  year 
that  Hamlet  was  a student  there,  and  that  Hamlet  might 
have  attended  them — supposing  that  he,  like  most  of 
Shakespeare’s  characters,  was  the  poet’s  contemporary. 

The  names  of  three  Englishmen  appear  on  the  register 
of  Wittenberg  during  the  years  1590—92.  They  are 
Fynes  Morison  of  Lincolnshire,  Anthony  Everstild  of 
Sussex,  and  Martin  Turner  of  York.  One  or  other  of 
these  must  have  been  the  friend  of  the  writer  of  Hamlet. 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  Morison  was  known  to 
Bacon.  But  to  connect  either  of  these  names  with  the 
life  of  Bacon  would,  perhaps,  be  a greater  triumph  for 
the  painstaking  Mrs.  Pott  than  the  fact  that  both  Shakes- 
peare and  Bacon  wrote  “ Good-morrow  ” and  used  the 
word  “ really.”  Furness  continues  thus  “ Although 
Tschischwitz  is  evidently  convinced  of  the  genuineness 
of  his  discovery,  he  is  moderate  in  his  demands  on  those 
who  are  inclined  to  be  sceptical,  and  says  that  he  does 
not  wish  to  maintain  that  Shakespeare  went  any  deeper 
into  Bruno’s  system  than  served  his  immediate  purpose 
in  Hamlet , but  that  such  instances  of  parallelism  as  he 
adduces  prove  that  when  Shakespeare  wrote  Hamlet  he 
had  ascended  to  the  height  of  the  consciousness  that 
had  been  attained  in  those  days  ( Zeitbewusstsein ),  and 
had  become  familiar  with  the  most  abstract  of  sciences.” 
Another  critic  ( Shalcespeariana , vol.  i.,  No.  I 2,  Oct.  1884; 
Philadelphia,  L.  Scott ; London,  Trubner),  in  an  article 
entitled  “ Shakespeare  and  Giordano  Bruno,”  desires  to 
prove  from  the  passage,  “ If  the  sun  breed  maggots  in  a 
dead  dog,  being  a God-kissing  carrion,”  that  the  author 
of  Hamlet  knew  the  works  of  Bruno  (“  Sol  et  homo- 
generant  hominem  ”)  and  was  acquainted  with  the  atomic 
theory.  The  correspondent  goes  further,  and  from  the 


BACON. 


1 07 


facts  that  no  translation  of  the  Expulsion  existed  until 
1713,  and  that  no  English  form  of  the  poem  by  Par- 
menides on  Nature  appeared  till  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  he  seeks  to  deduce  the  fact  that  the 
author  of  Hamlet  knew  both  Greek  and  Italian,  “ as  was 
the  case  with  the  learned  Francis  Bacon.” 

The  grounds  for  this  assumption  are  small,  but  they 
may  interest  the  reader. 

Bruno  was  at  the  Court  of  Elizabeth  from  1583  to 
1585.  Bacon,  though  only  twenty-five  when  Bruno’s 
visit  ended,  was  called  to  the  Bar  in  1581,  and  it  was 
unlikely  that  a distinguished  lad,  and  one  related  to  the 
Cecils,  was  not  acquainted  with  illustrious  visitors  at 
Court.  Moreover,  two  facts  pointed  out  by  the  Rev.  B. 
Wrey  Savile,  of  Exeter  (the  correspondent  in  question), 
are  sufficiently  important.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  Bacon 
wrote  an  essay  adverse  to  the  Aristotelian  philosophy  ; 
and  the  atomic  philosophy  as  interpreted  by  Bruno  and 
by  Descartes,  his  son  in  philosophy,  was  entertained  by 
Bacon.  Many  curious  points  of  contact  with  Bruno  will 
reward  the  seeker  in  Bacon's  philosophy.  The  simile  of 
the  carver  which  occurs  in  the  Second  Dialogue  of  the 
Cause  was  taken  bodily  from  Bruno.  We  have,  moreover, 
the  curious  expression,  “ that  true  form  is  such  that  it 
deduces  the  particular  nature  from  some  source  of  essence, 
existing  in  many  subjects,  and  more  known  (as  they 
term  it)  to  Nature  than  the  form  itself”  ( Novum  Organon, 
Book  ii.  aphor.  4),  which  is  repeated  in  part  from  the 
words  of  Bruno  (W.  ii.  229),  “God,  as  an  absolute  Being, 
is  not  concerned  with  us ; but  in  so  far  as  he  communi- 
cates himself  to  the  effects  of  Nature,  he  is  nearer  to 
Nature  than  Nature  itself ; so  that  if  he  is  not  Nature 
itself,  he  is  of  a surety  the  Nature  of  Nature,  and  he  is 
the  soul  of  the  soul  of  the  world,  if  he  is  not  the  soul 
itself.”  The  effect  of  Bruno’s  theory  of  form  on  the 
philosophy  of  Bacon  may  be  traced  in  the  Novum  Organon 
(Book  ii.  aphor.  1,  4,  13,  15,  17).  Bacon’s  term, 


io8 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


“ form,”  means  no  more  than  law  (“  For  the  form  of  a 
thing  is  its  very  essence  ”),  and  with  Bruno 1 form 
and  matter  are  terms  which  stand  for  forces  ( Cause , 
Dialogue  iii.) 

It  is  difficult,  without  considerable  help  from  the  im- 
agination, to  reduce  the  England  of  to-day  to  its  slender 
proportions  in  the  age  of  Elizabeth.  The  country  was 
weak ; Ireland  was  unruly ; Scotland,  with  its  strong 
party  of  Catholics,  was  a continual  source  of  danger. 
Spain  was  an  open  enemy;  France  was  the  ally  of  the 
Scotch  and  the  humble  servant  of  the  Pope.  Our  revenue 
was  but  half  a million,  and  our  entire  population  ex- 
ceeded by  about  a quarter  of  a million  the  present  popu- 
lation of  London.  London  then  contained  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  It  was  hardly 
the  equal  of  Antwerp ; in  many  respects  it  was  inferior 
to  Paris  and  Lisbon.  Its  sanitary  condition  was  so  im- 
perfect that  the  deaths  almost  equalled  the  births  taking- 
place  within  its  walls.  A coil  of  dirty  narrow  streets, 
each  with  a black  gutter  which  ran  down  the  centre  of 
the  road ; the  houses  tall  and  high,  with  overhanging 
upper  storeys  and  gables  shutting  out  the  daylight ; one 
hundred  and  twenty  churches,  conspicuous  among  which 
was  the  enormous  mass  of  old  St.  Paul's,  with  its  solid 
square  tower ; a single  street  leading  from  the  Tower  by 
the  river,  and  past  Westminster  Hall  and  Southwark 
Bridge,  with  its  double  row  of  shops  and  houses,  to  the 


1 Scheible,  in  his  work  Die  Sage 
vom  Faust  (Stuttgardt,  1847,  page 
223  seq.),  makes  an  attempt  to 
identify  the  Bruno  of  Marlow’s 
Faust  with  the  Nolan  philosopher. 
There  are  some  obscure  lines  in  the 
British  Museum  (Epigrammes  and 
Elegies,  by  J.  D.  and  C.  M.,  32mo  ; at 
Middlesborougli,  1590  ?)  which  seem 
to  show  that  Marlow — since  he  is 
supposed  to  be  the  writer — applied 
the  name  Bruno  to  a living  person- 
age. The  lines  run  as  follows  : — 


“Bruno  which  thinks  himself  a faire 
sweet  youth 

Is  thirty-nine  years  of  age  at  least ; 

Yet  was  he  never,  to  confess  the  truth, 

But  a dry  starveling  when  he  was  at 
best,”  &c. 

Strangely  enough  the  “ lothed 
Lollard  and  base  schismatic  ” Bruno, 
is  sent  to  Wittenberg,  and  con- 
demned to  be  burnt  alive.  The 
bill  for  these  additions  to  Marlow’s 
play,  which  were  made  some  years 
after  the  poet’s  death,  is  still  ex- 
tant. 


LONDON,  1583. 


IC9 

stately  houses,  each  in  its  own  garden,  which  edged  the 
Thames, — such  was  London  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth. 

“ Miracles,”  said  Shakespeare,  “ are  ceased ; ” but, 
indeed,  miracles  and  revelation  were  then  abundant.  In 
the  “ green  islands  and  golden  sands  ” of  the  distant 
Spanish  main  a new  world  had  arisen  as  if  by  magic  out 
of  the  bosom  of  the  watery  waste.  This  El  Dorado  was 
said  to  contain  wedges  of  clean  gold  as  large  as  a man’s 
hand ; with  streets  broader  and  richer  than  those  of 
London,  cottages  stored  with  pearl,  and  banqueting-houses 
built  of  crystal,  with  pillars  of  massy  silver  and  gold. 
Moreover,  the  natives  were  said  to  worship  and  to  hold 
converse  with  a devil  which  assumed  the  shape  of  a calf ; 
and  there  were  monsters  in  the  land  as  large  as  two 
ordinary  oxen,  which  it  was  great  sport  to  kill,  besides 
fiery  dragons  which  reddened  the  air  through  which  they 
travelled.  Perhaps  the  crowning  marvel  of  the  age  was 
the  discovery  of  the  Bible,  for  centuries  sepulchred  in  the 
cells  of  monks.  Within  its  newly  unfolded  pages  lay 
another  and  a better  world.  In  the  surpassing  beauty  of 
its  ethics  was  the  assurance  of  a new  life  ; it  came  bring- 
ing fire  and  sword,  and  yet  was  full  of  promises,  sweet  as 
the  honey-bee  which  was  fabled  to  have  built  in  the 
mouth  of  Plato. 

Heine,  with  an  incomplete  appreciation  of  what  was  in 
truth  the  dawn  of  a new  day,  describes  England  at  the 
time  of  Shakespeare  as  “ shining  with  the  last  rays  of 
the  perishing  light  of  chivalry.”  When  Bruno  visited 
London,  however,  it  shone  with  the  more  sinister  and 
disastrous  glow  of  fires,  which,  spreading  from  Paris  to 
peaceful  German  and  Italian  market-places  on  the  one 
hand,  and  to  Smithfield  on  the  other,  were  yet  to  free  the 
air  for  ever  from  spiritual  tyranny.  The  enlightened  and 
scholarly  qualities  of  Elizabeth  were  not  shared  by  her 
people.  The  London  mob  hated  foreigners.  Writing  to 
Baudius,  Casaubon  says,  “ It  is  not  the  manner  of  the 
English  to  import  distinguished  men  of  learning  from 


I 10 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


other  countries.”  And  Thomson  writes  to  the  same 
correspondent  (1605),  “Our  English  students1  seldom 
travel  abroad,  so  that  you  need  not  wonder  that  you  see 
few  of  them  where  you  are.” 

In  the  short  demand  made  by  the  Patriarch  and  the 
members  of  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  in  Venice  for 
the  extradition  of  Bruno  (Doc.  xix.),  a special  accusation 
is  brought  against  him  as  an  lieresiarch  and  a writer  of 
books  praising  the  Queen  of  England  and  other  heretic 
princes.  “ I have  praised,”  he  says  in  his  reply  (Doc. 
xiii.),  “ many  heretics  and  heretic  princes,  not  as  heretics, 
but  only  on  account  of  the  moral  virtue  which  they  pos- 
sessed ; . . . and  in  my  book  Of  tli&  Cause  I praise  the 
Queen  of  England,  calling  her  a goddess,  not  in  religion, 
but  as  an  epithet  given  by  the  ancients  to  princes ; and 
in  England,  where  I was  when  I wrote  the  book,  it  is 
their  habit  to  give  the  title  of  goddess  to  the  Queen;  and 
I was  the  more  induced  to  give  her  that  name  because 
she  knew  me  and  I went  continually  to  Court  with  the 
ambassador.” 

According  to  Lord  Clarendon,  it  was  usual  humbly  to 
follow  the  Court  before  aspiring  to  become  what  is  called 
by  Sir  Philip  Sydney  “ a smally  learned  courtier.”  But 
for  Bruno  it  was  unnecessary  to  serve  any  such  appren- 
ticeship. Furnished  with  letters  from  the  King  of  France 
to  his  ambassador  in  London,  M.  de  Castelnau,  the  Nolan 
took  leave  of  Paris,  “ on  account  of  the  tumults  ” (Doc. 
ix.),  arriving  in  England  in  the  spring  of  1 583.  “ Queen 
Elizabeth,”  the  Italian  ambassador  wrote  of  her  ( Rdazione 
degli  ambasciatori  Veneti,  S.I.,  vol.  ii.),  “ speaks  the 
Italian  language,  and  takes  so  much  pleasure  in  it  that, 
from  ambition,  she  will  speak  no  other  language  with 
Italians  ” — in  itself  fortunate,  for  Bruno  could  not  speak 

1 According  to  Scioppius,  there  richer  than  the  Tici  who  dwell  on 
was  good  reason  why  English  stu-  the  golden  mountains,  he  will  not 
dents  did  not  travel  abroad.  In  be  able  to  get  together  twenty 
1615  he  wrote,  “It  James  were  learned  men  in  England.’’  < 


M.  CASTELNAU  DE  MAUVISSIERE. 


1 1 1 


English.  “ Being  asked  if  he  understood  English  (W.  i. 
151),“  the  Nolan  said  ‘ No;’  and  he  told  the  truth  ; . . . for 
though  he  hath  taught  a year  in  this  country,  he  under- 
stands no  more  than  two,  or  at  most  three,  very  ordinary 
words,  which  he  knows  are  greetings ; . . . but  he  knows 
not  their  meaning  ; . . . for  all  gentle  and  loyal  men,  with 
whom  alone  he  holds  converse,  speak  Latin,  French, 
Spanish,  or  Italian ; they,  knowing  that  the  English  lan- 
guage is  nowhere  used  but  in  this  island,  would  hold 
themselves  to  be  savages  if  they  could  speak  no  language 
but  their  own.  And  it  is  also  true,”  he  continues,  “ there 
are  many  who  are  gentlemen  in  nothing  but  race,  and 
with  whom,  therefore,  for  their  advantage  and  ours,  it  is 
well  to  have  no  further  acquaintance.” 

With  the  favour  shown  by  the  Court  to  Italians,  added 
to  his  own  gifts  in  oratory  and  philosophy,  which  were 
best  displayed  in  Latin,  he  had  a fair  prospect  of  advance- 
ment in  London ; and  here,  accordingly,  we  find  that  he 
printed  several  works  on  the  Art  of  Memory  ; while  it  was 
here  also  that  his  chief  Italian  works  saw  the  light,  mostly 
under  the  auspices  of  the  French  ambassador,  M.  Castel- 
nau  de  Mauvissiere.  Castelnau  was  a striking  figure  even 
in  an  age  renowned  for  men  above  the  common.  He  was 
“ a pi’odigv  of  parts  ; ” dexterous  and  resolute,  fond  of 
letters,  a munificent  protector,  and  an  attached  friend. 
He  had  translated  a treatise  by  Ramus  on  the  manners  and 
customs  o£.the  Gauls,  and  as  the  author  also  of  some  ex- 
cellent memoirs,  he  knew  that  the  solace  and  variety  of 
honest  labour  ought  to  be  free  from  the  pangs  of  hunger. 
Sieur  de  Castelnau  Mauvissiere  was  born  in  1520  near 
Tours.  Brantome  speaks  of  him  with  admiration  as  M. 
de  Castelnau  de  Languedoc,  and  he  is  variously  styled 
by  other  writers.  He  was  one  of  the  first  generation  of 
statesmen  by  profession.  Before  his  time  countries  had 
been  ruled  by  soldiers  or  by  priests ; it  remained  for 
a third  profession  to  combine  the  arts  of  war  and  peace. 
His  mind  was  just  and  penetrating,  his  memory  pro- 


I 12 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


digious,  his  courage  unimpeachable.  He  travelled  much, 
and  having  visited  various  courts,  learnt  enough  of 
government  in  each  to  feel  assured  that  he  was  justified 
in  refusing  a military  career,  though  for  a short  time  he 
accepted  service  in  the  French  marine.  His  religious 
sentiments  were  warm,  but  they  were  just,  and  his  toler- 
ance did  not  approach  indifference.  His  observations  are 
profound,  and  his  literary  style  is  said  to  be  modelled  on 
that  of  Philippe  de  Comines,  but  perhaps  only  as  the 
sentiments  of  one  earnest  and  sagacious  observer  resemble 
those  of  another  when  expressed  in  simple  and  dignified 
language. 

O O 

Castelnau  had  two  daughters,  Marie  and  Elizabeth,  and 
two  sons,  for  whom  his  admirable  memoirs  were  written. 
Unfortunately  the  work  was  only  carried  down  to  the 
year  1569;  and  thus  we  have  no  record  of  Bruno’s  visit 
to  the  ambassador.  We  may  quote  a passage  (page  185, 
ed.  Petitot)  showing  the  memoirs  were  written  after 
Castlenau  knew  Bruno  : — “ For  it  is  certain  that  the  ruin 
and  perdition  of  one  kingdom  is  for  the  preservation  and 
growth  of  others ; and  no  man  loses  anything  in  this 
world  on  the  right  hand  which  some  other  does  not  gain 
on  the  left ; and  out  of  the  corruption  of  many  things 
comes  generation.”  A passage  suggesting  these  words 
will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  Cause  (W.  i.  291), 
and  in  the  preface  to  the  Candle- Bearer.  Again,  in 
speaking  of  the  murderers  of  Rizzio,  Castelnau  makes 
use  of  the  expression,  “ Time,  the  eternal  bearer  of 
vicissitude,”  which  may  be  traced  to  the  Expulsion  (W. 
ii.  121,122).  The  philosophic  turn  of  his  mind  appears 
in  his  temperate  judgment  and  in  his  patient  search  for 
reasons  and  causes,  among  which,  as  Bartholmess  has 
pointed  out,  he  did  not  forget  to  note  “ necessity,  which 
is  not  subject  to  the  laws  of  man.”  Justice  is  represented 
by  him  as  the  “ foundation  of  human  society,”  and  as 
altogether  opposed  to  the  changes  of  terrestrial  things. 
He  was  firm  and  temperate  in  the  matter  of  the  religious 


M.  CASTELNAU  DE  MAUVISSIERE. 


113 

wars  which  were  then  turning  France  into  a debatable 
land ; proving  the  excellence  of  his  judgment  in  many 
passages  which  do  his  heart  and  understanding  equal 
credit. 

In  the  dedication  to  Castelnau  of  the  Opening  of  the 
Thirty  Seals,  after  speaking  of  his  book  as  “ a not  ignoble 
offspring  of  the  Muses,”  Bruno  addresses  the  ambassa- 
dor in  a finely-turned  compliment : “For  those  beholden 
to  me  are  beholden  to  the  Muses,  and  those  beholden  to 
the  Muses  are  in  truth  beholden  to  you,  who  favour  and 
guard  them  continually.  For  they  are  native  to  every 
soil,  and  not  alien  here,  since,  through  an  Italian  scholar 
in  distant  Britain,  you  have  extended  to  them  the  royal 
hospitality  of  France.  Farewell ! I thank  you  ; and  I 
would  have  you  know  him  for  ever  bound  to  you  for 
whom  you  have  changed  England  into  Italy,  London  into 
Nola,  and  the  perils  of  a strange  land  into  the  sacred  ties 
of  home.” 

Four  of  his  works  were  dedicated  to  his  protector — 
the  Thirty  Seals,  the  Sapper  of  Ashes,  Of  the  Cause , and 
Of  Infinity.  In  each  he  shows  a grateful  spirit  towards 
Castelnau,  offering  him  thanks  for  courteous  hospitality, 
and  for  gentle  and  honourable  treatment  received  at  his 
hands.  He  is  addressed  as  the  Nolan’s  defence  and  the 
unique  refuge  of  the  Muses ; and  he  is  admonished  to 
look  towards  Unity,  which  is  the  “ texture,  disposal,  and 
order  of  the  sciences,”  the  “ key  without  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  enter  into  the  true  contemplation  of  Nature.” 

In  the  dedication  of  the  Cause  (W.  i.  205)  Bruno 
calls  on  the  whole  world  to  bear  witness  that  to  Castel- 
nau alone  is  due  the  glory  of  fostering  this  generous  and 
divine  offspring  of  philosophy,  which  but  for  him  would 
have  withered  in  its  swaddling-clothes ; but  “ now  it 
shall  inherit  life  as  long  as  this  earth  with  her  lively  bur- 
den turns  beneath  the  bright  eternal  aspect  of  the  stars.” 
This  dedication  is  preceded  by  a fantastic  catalogue  of 
Bruno’s  perfections,  contrasted  with  the  odious  miscon- 

H 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


1 14 

duct  of  his  enemies.  “ I,  whom  no  man  durst  accuse  of 
ingratitude  nor  of  discourtesy  ” — the  pink  of  politeness, 
indeed — “ and  on  whom  none  can  justly  lay  any  blame  ; 
having  dwelt  with  you  in  your  house,  . . . defended  by 
your  gracious  and  ready  succour  and  bountiful  libera- 
lity ; receiving  sustenance  which  turned  my  scarcity  and 
dearth  into  plenty,  with  a sufficient  and  stable  defence 
against  violent  onslaughts  of  fortune,  a sea  of  troubles, 
and  huge  perilous  tempests,  ...  to  you  I consecrate 
this  my  sheet-anchor ; this  poor  little  ship,  laden  with 
commodities  most  dear  to  me,  and  precious  to  succeeding 
generations”  (W.  i.  205),  . . . “lest  it  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  iniquitous  rage  of  my  enemy,  the  ocean.  Let 
these  works  hang  in  the  sacred  temple  of  Fame,  to  the 
end  that  they  may  prevail  against  the  spells  of  ignorance 
and  the  voracity  of  Time,  and  may  bear  unfading  witness 
of  your  grace  and  favour.” 

In  the  dedication  of  the  Infinity , Bruno,  after  dwelling 
upon  the  philosophic  scheme  of  the  book,  makes  an  ap- 
peal to  Castelnau  which  is  full  of  dignity,  though  mode- 
rately tinged  with  self-appreciation.  (Epicurus  wrote  in 
the  same  strain : “If  thy  heart  is  stirred  by  love  of 
glory,  my  letters  will  give  thee  greater  glory  than  all 
those  things  which  are  honoured  by  thee,  and  in  which 
thou  seekest  honour.”)  Bruno  says : “ I effectually  re- 
commend one  to  you,  whom  you  are  not  to  entertain 
among  your  domestics  as  having  need  of  him,  but  as  a 
person  having  need  of  you.  ...  You  can  neither  be  so 
much  esteemed  by  the  world,  nor  so  acceptable  to  God 
for  being  beloved  and  favoured  by  the  greatest  monarch 
on  earth,  as  for  loving,  cherishing,  and  maintaining  such 
as  these ; for  there  is  nothing  that  your  superiors  in 
fortune  can  do  for  you,  who  surpass  many  of  them  in 
virtue,  which  will  endure  when  your  walls  and  tapes- 
tries have  perished ; but  you  may  do  that  for  others 
which  may  come  to  be  written  in  the  book  of  eternity, 
since  that  which  you  receive  from  others  is  a testimony 


M.  CASTELNAU  DE  MAUVISSIERE. 


IT5 

of  their  virtue,  while  that  which  you  do  for  others  is  the 
token  and  express  image  of  your  own.” 

In  the  Supper  of  Ashes  (W.  i.  199)  he  again  com- 
mends himself  to  “ the  most  illustrious  and  most  gene- 
rous soul  of  Seigneur  de  Mauvissiere,”  under  whose 
auspices  so  much  solemn  philosophy  has  seen  the  day, 
“ that  there  may  perchance  be  found  some  sufficient 
means  by  which  the  stars  and  the  powers  on  high  should 
guide  the  Nolan  to  a spot  remote  from  outrage.”  In 
this  tone  of  timorous  solicitation,  so  foreign  to  his  usual 
manner,  he  shares,  with  all  poor  men  of  humble  means 
and  great  powers,  the  longing  to  be  free  from  want  and 
from  the  insults  which  too  often  followed  upon  his 
haughty  and  imperious  conduct.  Throughout  his  troubled 
life  he  looked  in  vain  for  a retreat.  Peace  and  safety 
were  denied  him ; and  his  hope  to  obtain  them  and  to 
enjoy  their  use,  apart  from  the  changes  of  this  checkered 
world,  with  its  fleeting  appearances  and  transitory  joy, 
was  never  destined  to  be  realised. 

Of  himself  he  says  that  he  is  cc  of  fools  hated,  of  the 
mean  slighted,  reviled  by  rascals,  followed  by  sheepish 
souls,  beloved  by  the  wise,  admired  by  the  learned, 
esteemed  by  the  great,  treasured  by  the  mighty,  favoured 
bv  God.”  In  another  place  he  says  (W.  i.  129)  he  had 
“ freed  men's  minds  and  knowledge,  cleared  the  air, 
penetrated  the  skies,  wandered  among  the  stars,  stridden 
over  the  edges  of  the  world,  demolished  the  fantastic 
ramparts  of  the  spheres,  illuminated  the  blind,  given 
speech  to  the  dumb,  and  made  manifest  . . . the  myriad 
bodies  in  heaven  which  assist  in  the  ministry  and  con- 
templation of  the  first,  universal,  infinite,  and  Eternal 
Efficient.” 

“ Envy,”  said  Cosimo  de’  Medici,  “ is  a plant  that  must 
not  be  watered.”  Bruno  not  only  did  not  avoid  disputes, 
but,  conscious  to  the  full  of  the  value  of  his  doctrine,  he 
never  lost  an  opportunity  for  bringing  it  forward,  writr- 
ing, teaching,  and  trusting  to  friction  to  bring  about  an 


1 1 6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


improvement  only  to  be  effected  by  gentler  means.  He 
included  in  one  condemnation  every  philosopher,  illustri- 
ous or  obscure,  dead  or  living,  who  ignored  or  mistook 
the  true  principles  of  natural  science.  The  first  rank  in 
any  art  or  science  was  not  his,  but  he  touched  every 
subject,  moved  many,  was  ardent  and  sincere  in  all  he 
undertook ; “ for,”  he  says,  “ by  stirring,  stimulating, 
surprising,  contradicting,  exciting  men’s  minds,  they  are 
made  fruitful ; and  this,  according  to  Socrates,  is  a salu- 
tary vocation.” 

In  another  place  he  writes  (W.  ii.  195),  “Administer 
me  that  leisure  by  the  help  of  which  I may  accomplish 
better  and  more  excellent  things  than  what  I leave 
undone  ; for  in  the  house  of  Leisure  sits  Counsel  and  a 
happy  life.  There  are  occasions  best  perceived  ; there 
Labour  is  more  vigorous  and  successful,  for  it  is  im- 
possible to  run  well  without  being  first  well  placed. 
Thou,  Leisure,  afford  me  the  means  to  be  esteemed  less 
idle  than  all  others,  because  by  thy  help  I shall  be  able 
to  do  service  to  the  commonwealth,  and  my  words  will 
be  a better  defence  to  my  country  than  its  swords  and 
shields,  its  tribunes  or  its  emperors.” 

The  philosophy  of  Bruno  was  deeply  imbued  with 
German  mysticism.  A direct  influence  on  his  mind  was 
exercised  by  Nicholas,  Cardinal- Archbishop  of  Cusa.  All 
the  doubt  and  difficulty  arising  from  our  failure  to  appre- 
hend the  nature  of  God  was  to  be  vanquished,  according 
to  Cusa  (He  Covjechcris),  by  ecstasy,  which  has  power  to 
overcome  the  world  and  all  things  hemming  in  the  soul. 
Professor  Carriere  traces  the  relation  of  this  mystic  ecstasy 
to  the  Indian  Bhagavad-Ghita.  in  which  man  is  enjoined 
to  withdraw  himself,  to  lose  his  soul  in  Brahma,  and  to 
find  Brahma  in  his  soul. 

“ To  understand,”  says  Bruno,  “ is  to  see  forms  and 
figures  in  the  imagination,  and  intelligence  is  imagina- 
tion, or  not  devoid  of  imagination”  (Gfr.  529).  These 
words  are  important  if  we  would  master  the  peculiar 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  GERMAN  MYSTICS. 


ii  7 

views  of  the  philosopher.  His  mission  was  not  that  of 
exact  inquiry ; he  did  not  desire  to  establish  facts  by  a 
slow  intellectual  process : he  sought  to  enter  into  the 
very  nature  and  quintessence  of  things  by  means  of  that 
intellectual  intuition  which  was  called  by  his  master, 
Nicholas  of  Cusa,  an  organ  of  the  highest  knowledge.1 
In  his  poems  especially,  Bruno  describes  that  exalted 
impulse  of  the  feeling  and  the  will  on  which  great  stress 
is  laid  by  the  Cardinal- Archbishop.  The  aim  of  the  Nolan 
philosophy  is  to  overcome  the  fear  of  deatli  and  to  till  the 
soul  with  noble  aspirations ; and  the  teaching  of  Bruno 
is  always  full  of  personal  interest,  even  when  it  is  not 
altogether  supported  by  scientific  principles. 

In  many  points  the  doctrines  of  Aquinas  professed  by 
Bruno  nearly  approached  that  of  Meister  Eckhart,  who  is 
defined  by  Ueberweg  as  a spiritualised  Thomist.  Eckhart 
has  several  other  points  of  contact  with  Bruno.  Accord- 
ing to  the  German  mystic,  God  communicates  himself  to 
all  things,  to  each  according  to  the  measure  of  its  ability 
to  receive  him.  Corresponding  passages  occur  in  the 
Expulsion  (W.  ii.  226,  227,  343,  409,  &c.)  “If  thou 
wilt  know  God  divinely,”  says  Eckhart,  “ thy  knowledge 
must  be  changed  to  ignorance.”  This  is  the  doctrine  of 
the  Cabal  (W.  ii.  271).  Again,  Eckhart  gives  to  evil 
the  character  of  privation  ( Intentio , xxi.) 

It  was  the  design  of  Eckhart  to  point  out  the  nearest 
way  to  union  with  God.  On  account  of  its  abuses  he 
severed  himself  from  the  Church.  He  rejected  Scholasti- 
cism with  its  artifices  in  learning,  and  commended  that 
supra-rational  cognition  which  dominates  all  the  faculties 
(the  same  with  the  a<pi)  of  Plotinus),  and,  pressing  onward, 
attains  at  last  the  very  sources  of  the  soul,  the  absolute, 
the  unity,  beyond  which  is  nothing.  “ When,”  says 
Meister  Eckhart,  “ the  reason  arrives  at  the  limit  of  her 
power,  there  remains  a transcendent  sphere,  which  she 

1 Schelling  held  Bruno  in  high  philosophy  of  identity.”  (Schelling’s 
esteem  as  “the  forefather  of  the  Bruno,  1S02,  pp.  310,  32S-332.) 


1 1 8 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


cannot  fathom.  This  she  then  reveals  in  the  innermost 
recesses  of  the  soul,  where  reason  and  will  stand  in  living 
interchange,  or  in  the  will ; and  the  will,  illuminated  by 
the  divine  light,  plunges  into  a state  of  not-knowing,  and 
turns  from  all  perishable  light  to  the  highest  good — to 
God.  Thus  faith  arises,  an  exaltation  which,  beginning 
with  the  understanding,  takes  possession  of  the  whole 
soul,  and  guides  it  to  its  highest  perfection.” 

Eckhart,  however,  with  sound  sense,  remarks  that  mere 
contemplation  is  selfishness,  and  that  if  a man  were  in  an 
ecstasy  like  St.  Paul,  and  knew  of  one  needing  a little 
pottage,  he  should  quit  his  ecstasy  and  minister  to  the 
needy ; for  works  do  not  cease  when  sanctification  is 
attained,  but  rather  multiply. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  London,  Bruno  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  University  of  Oxford  in  a prefix 
to  the  Opening  of  the  Thirty  Seals.  This  was  appropri- 
ately styled  the  Awakener ; and,  like  Descartes,  who  in- 
formed the  magistrates  of  Utrecht  that  he  knew  more 
philosophy  than  the  whole  of  their  academicians,  Bruno 
accosts  the  University  with  a blast  of  trumpets.  “ Philo- 
theus  Jordanus  Brunus  of  Nola,”  he  wrote,  “a  doctor  in 
]3erfected  theology ; a professor  of  pure  and  blameless 
wisdom  ; a philosopher  known,  approved,  and  honorifi- 
cally  acknowledged  by  the  foremost  academies  of  Europe; 
to  none  a stranger,  save  barbarians  and  the  vulgar ; a 
waker  of  slumbering  souls ; a breaker  of  presumptuous 
and  stubborn  ignorance ; Avho,  in  all  his  dealings,  pro- 
fesses love  to  all  men,  love  to  the  Italian  and  to  the 
Briton,  to  man  and  woman,  to  the  mitre  and  to  the 
crown,  to  him  wearing  a toga  and  to  the  warrior,  to  the 
frocked  and  to  the  unfrocked,  but  who  is  inclined  chiefly 
to  him  whose  way  is  peaceable,  enlightened,  true,  and 
fruitful ; who  looks  not  to  the  anointed  head  nor  to  the 
consecrated  brow,  not  to  the  pure  in  hand  nor  to  the 
circumcised,  but  thither  where  man’s  true  countenance  is 
to  be  found,  towards  his  soul,  and  the  perfection  of  his 


OXFORD,  JUNE  1583. 


119 


spirit ; whom  dispensers  of  foolishness  and  hypocrites 
abhor;  whom  upright  and  sincere  men  love;  whom  noble 
souls  receive  with  acclamation, — To  the  honoured  and 
noble  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Oxford  and  to 
his  fellows,  greeting.” 

The  rough  staff  of  Brutus,  we  are  told,  contained  a rod 
of  gold  ; and  this  extravagant  address,  like  Don  Quixote’s 
balsam,  was  not  to  be  appreciated  except  by  “ persons  of 
honour  and  discernment.”  When  Bruno’s  turn  came  to 
visit  the  more  enlightened  academies,  he  addressed  them 
in  a different  spirit.  To  Wittenberg  he  puts  forward  his 
humble  claim  as  “a  wanderer,  a stranger,  and  an  exile;” 
and  to  the  Rector  of  the  Sorbonne  in  Paris  he  appeals  in 
dignified  language  from  the  tribunal  of  antiquity  to 
“ Nature  and  the  laws  of  a beneficent  Divinity.”  The 
mock-heroic  vein  reappears  in  the  dedication  of  the  Cabal 
to  the  Bishop  of  Casamarciano,  which  contains  a fair 
share  of  those  rousing  epithets  adapted  by  Bruno  to  the 
slumbering  state  of  Oxford. 

There  was,  in  fact,  little  life  in  the  English  universities.1 
Edinburgh  and  Dublin  were  at  the  outset  of  their  career; 
and  if  there  had  been  a maturity  of  performance,  it  was 
surely  to  be  expected  from  the  elder  foundations,  since 
they  had  passed  the  age  of  promise.  Of  these  antique 
seats  of  learning,  Oxford,  “ the  right  eye  and  the  light  of 
the  whole  realm,”  was  under  the  rule  of  the  intriguer 
Leicester,  and  the  circumspect  Burleigh  governed  Cam- 


1 Hentzner  notes  that  in  1598  the 
students  led  a life  almost  monastic. 
Erasmus  affirmed,  says  Holiushed, 
“ that  our  orders  far  exceeded  all  the 
monastic  institutions  that  ever  were 
devised.”  Fuller  writes  as  follows  : 
“ And  thus  much  in  general  of  our 
noble  universities,  whose  lands  some 
greedy  gripers  do  gape  wide  for,  and 
of  late  have  (as  I hear)  propounded 
sundry  reasons  whereby  they  sup- 
posed to  have  prevailed  in  their 
purposes.  But  who  are  those  that 
have  attempted  this  suit,  other  than 


such  as  either  hate  learning,  piety, 
and  wisdom,  or  else  have  spent  all 
their  own  ? In  Queen  Mary’s  time 
the  weather  was  too  warm  for  any 
such  course  to  be  taken  in  hand. 
What  comfort  should  it  be  for  any 
good  man  to  see  his  country  brought 
into  the  estate  of  the  old  Goths  and 
Yandals,  by  means  wdiereof  those 
people  become  savage  tyrants  and 
merciless  hell-hounds,  till  they  re- 
stored learning  again,  and  thereby 
fell  to  civility.” 


120 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


bridge.  The  Queen,  who  was  the  head  of  the  Church, 
piqued  herself  on  her  supremacy  in  letters. 

The  universities  were  subject  to  the  Star  Chamber, 
which  checked  the  growth  of  learning.  No  printers 
were  licensed  except  in  London,  Oxford,  and  Cambridge  ; 
every  publication  was  rigorously  examined,  and  more  than 
one  printing-press  was  demolished  by  order.  Free  dis- 
cussion was  impossible  except  on  such  sterile  subjects 
as  arose  out  of  the  dissensions  of  the  Church.  Cal- 
vinist rose  against  Calvinist,  Puritans  against  Episco- 
palians, and  the  whole  against  the  Catholics — a name  so 
hated  that  no  knowledge,  either  modern  or  antique,  which 
was  derived  from  Rome,  could  be  tolerated  in  the  strong- 
hold of  Protestantism.  An  unreasoning  faith  in  Aristotle 
added  rancour  to  the  strife  in  religion.  By  the  university 
statute  it  was  enacted  that  no  one  could  take  a degree 
“ in  philosophy  or  in  theology  if  he  had  not  drunk  at  the 
fountain  of  Aristotle”  (W.  i.  226).  The  professors  loved 
to  enforce  doctrines  which  they  showed  no  patience  in 
deciphering  and  no  philosophy  in  interpreting. 

Bruno,  though  he  called  Aristotle  “ a learned  and 
judicious  gentleman”  (W.  i.  180),  attacked  the  followers 
of  Aristotle  as  parrots  (W.  i.  175)  and  Sophists  ( De 
Min.,  v.  p.  98;  W.  ii.  281),  “subtle  metaphysicians 
of  the  cowl,  seeking  to  excuse  the  insufficiency  of 
Aristotle,  their  divinity”  (W.  i.  255).  Learning,  ac- 
cording to  Lord  Bacon  ( Interpretation  of  Nature),  was 
“ an  infinite  chaos  of  shadows  and  moths,  wherewith 
both  books  and  minds  are  pestered.”  “ They  pursue 
words  and  neglect  matter,”  1 Sir  Philip  Sidney  writes  to 
his  brother  Robert. 

Bruno  had  little  in  common  with  “ this  ungracious 
crew,”  as  Spenser  calls  the  Puritans.  Oxford,  in  its 

1 Less  than  twenty  years  after  we  bestow  their  time  in  the  fathers  and 
find  ( 1612)  issued  by  the  Crown  to  councils,  schoolmen,  histories,  and 
the  Arice-ChanceIlor  of  Oxford  in-  controversies,  and  not  to  insist  too 
structions  “according  to  which  long  on  compendiums  and  abbrevia- 
young  students  were  to  be  incited  to  tions.’ 


OXFORD,  JUNE  1583. 


121 


intolerance,  liad  become  an  Anglican  Eome.  Tlie  rule 
of  the  University  ran  counter  to  every  new  thing,  and 
antiquity  was  either  completely  disregarded  or  treated  as 
the  source  of  innumerable  quibbles.  The  Dons  were  court- 
nominees,  following  the  Queen  instead  of  living  at  Oxford; 
and  Bruno  describes  them  as  “ men  arrayed  in  long  robes 
of  velvet,  with  hands  most  precious  for  the  multitude  of 
costly  rings  on  their  fingers,  golden  chains  about  their 
necks,  and  with  manners  as  void  of  courtesy  as  cowherds  ” 
(VV.  i.  123,  137).  The  scholars  were  said  to  be  ignorant, 
boorish,  and  indevout,1  occupied  in  horse-plav,  drinking 
and  duelling,  toasting  in  ale-houses  and  country  inns,  or 
graduating  in  the  noble  science  of  defence.  In  short,  they 
took  their  ease  everywhere,  whether  in  lecture-rooms  or 
in  taverns  ; and  the  Dons  being  usually  at  court,  Oxford 
was  in  the  plight  of  that  Irish  province  which  was  said  to 
be  “ full  of  absentees.” 

In  June  1583  Bruno  was  permitted  to  hold  a public 
disputation  in  Oxford  before  the  Chancellor  and  an  illus- 
trious foreign  visitor.  He  also  delivered  lectures  on  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  quintuple  sphere  (Doc. 
ix.)  No  trace  of  these  lectures  remains,  and  it  would  be 
hard  to  define  his  theory  of  immortality  at  this  period, 
though  his  final  belief  is  known  through  his  deposition  at 
his  trial.  “ I have  held,  and  I hold,”  he  says  (Doc.  xii.), 
“ that  souls  are  immortal,  and  that  they  are  subsisting 
substances  (that  is,  the  intellectual  souls),  and  that,  speak- 
ing in  a catholic  manner,  they  do  not  pass  from  one  body 
to  another,  but  they  go  either  to  paradise  or  to  purgatory 
or  to  hell.  Nevertheless  in  philosophy  I have  reasoned 
that  the  soul,  subsisting  without  the  body  and  non-existent 
in  the  body,  may  in  the  same  way  that  it  is  in  one  body 
be  in  another,  passing  from  one  body  into  another ; the 

1 A cause  of  disorder  was  the  years  standing  ; and  Robert  Deve- 
extreme  youth  of  the  students,  reux,  Earl  of  Essex,  took  his  degree 
Sidney  held  a public  disputation  at  as  Master  of  Arts  at  Cambridge 
Oxford  with  a lad  named  Carew,  when  he  was  but  sixteen  years  old. 
then  only  fourteen,  and  yet  of  three 


122 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


sSAdAf-  Spvrulf. 


cy^v/. 

"5 


which,  if  it  is  not  true,  at  least  appears  to  be  the  opinion 
of  Pythagoras.” 

Bruno  is  convinced  of  the  indestructibility  of  the 
central  monad  which  constitutes  our  inmost  being.  ££  No 
substance  being  of  itself  dissoluble,  we  may  not,  according 
to  Pythagoras,  suffer  fear  of  death,  since  we  must  await 
our  passage  to  another  place.  For  dissolution  can  only 
appear  in  that  which  is  compounded,  that  which  is  no 
substance,  but  a circumstance,  otherwise  our  substance 
would  be  continually  changed  by  the  perpetual  flow  of 
matter  which  enters  into  and  issues  from  our  bodies.  So 
then  we  are  that  which  we  are  by  the  indivisible  substance 
of  our  souls,  around  which,  like  the  centre,  the  atoms 
assemble,  and  from  which  they  depart.  Hence  it  happens 
that  in  birth  and  in  growth  the  quickening  spirit  ex- 
pands ; it  retires  lastly  to  the  heart,  and  departs  by  that 
way  which  was  its  entrance  ” 1 ( De  Trip.  Min.  I 3). 

££  If,  under  the  dominion  and  virtue  of  the  soul,  corporal 
matter,  which  is  compounded,  divisible,  changeable,  and 
consistent,  is  not  subject  to  annihilation,  and  can  in  no 
point  nor  atom  be  annulled ; that  more  excellent  nature, 
the  ruler,  mover,  vivifier,  maintainer,  and  container  of  the 
flesh,  cannot  be  of  inferior  condition.  . . . This  principle 
is  the  true  man,  and  not  an  accident  derived  from  the 
composition  of  the  man.  This  is  the  divinity,  the  demon, 
the  hero,  the  particular  god,  the  intelligence  . . . which 
moves  and  governs  the  body,  and  is  in  itself  subject  to  the 
high  justice  which  presides  over  all  things”  (W.  i.  1 13). 

Even  at  this  early  period  when  the  Expulsion  was 
written,  Bruno  did  not  enforce  the  doctrine  of  metemp- 
sychosis. He  held  it  to  be,  “ though  not  an  article 
of  faith,  very  well  worthy  of  consideration  ” (W.  i.  1 1 3). 
££  Hence  it  may  be  concluded,”  says  Chaufepie,  ££  that 
Bruno  speaks  of  a real  metempsychosis.”  Toland,  how- 


1 A beautiful  and  poetic  German  body  will  be  found  in  Professor 
translation  of  Bruno’s  Latin  verses  Carriere’s  Weltanschauung,]).  452. 
on  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  the 


THEORY  OF  IMMORTALITY. 


123 


ever,  says  justly  that  by  transmigration  Bruno  understands 
no  more  than  vicissitude,  and  an  eternal  revolution  of  the 
different  forms  of  matter.1 

The  book  on  Heroic  Rapture  presents  a clear  view  of 
Bruno’s  teaching.  “ The  soul  is  not  in  the  body  locally, 
but  as  its  intrinsic  form  and  extrinsic  mould,  as  that 


which  makes  the  members  and  shapes  the  whole  within 
and  without.  The  body,  then,  is  in  the  soul,  the  soul  in 
the  mind ; the  intelligence  either  is  God  or  is  in  God, 
according  to  Plotinus,  so  as  by  its  essence  it  is  in  God, 
who  is  its  life,  in  the  same  manner  by  intellectual  opera- 
tion and  the  will  consequent  on  such  operation  it  is 
related  to  its  light  and  its  object”  (W.  ii.  335). 

“ For  love,  if  it  be  finite,  is  fixed,  and  of  a certain 
measure ; but  to  behold  it  rising  ever  higher  and  higher 
is  to  know  that  it  turns  towards  the  Infinite”  (W.  ii.  372). 
“ The  intellectual  power  is  appeased  with  comprehended 
truth  only  by  advancing  ever  nearer  and  nearer  to  incom- 
prehensible truth.  The  being  of  the  soul  is  not  related 
to  any  other  end  than  to  the  source  of  its  substance  and 
entity”  (W.  ii.  392).  “The  divine  perfection  of  the 
individual  soul  is  the  aim  of  all  progression.  The  soul 
of  man  is  comforted  and  receives  all  the  glory  of  which 
finite  nature  is  capable  when  it  shares  in  the  infinite  love 
of  the  Divine  ” (W.  ii.  336).  “ Love  is  more  than  know- 

ledge ” 2 (W.  ii.  3 3 8). 

1 “The  soul,”  says  Saisset,  when 
considering  the  philosophy  of  Bruno, 
lievue  des  Deux  Mondes,  vol.  xviii., 

1847,  “is  a monad.  It  is  not  the 
harmony  of  the  unities  which  com- 
pose the  body,  but  it  is  that  which 
constitutes  and  maintains  the  har- 
mony of  the  body.  It  is  simple  and 
uncompounded  in  being  ; and  its 
unknown  destiny  may  be  on  quitting 
its  terrestrial  dwelling  to  form 
and  vivify  other  bodies,  to  travel 
through  space  from  planet  to  planet, 
or  to  plunge  once  more  into  that 
ocean  of  goodness  and  light  which  is 
its  natural  abiding-place,  il  natio 


scggiorno.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
soul  knows  and  desires  the  infinite; 
it  seeks  after  the  means  of  becoming 
one  with  the  infinite;  therefore  its 
end  is  to  live  for  ever.” 

2 “For  even,”  says  Spinoza,  “the 
knowledge  which  we  have  of  our 
own  body  is  not  such  that  we  know 
it  fully.  And  yet  what  union,  what 
love  ! Thus  may  man  by  love  re- 
ceive the  Infinite,  though  by  know- 
ledge he  may  not  reach  it.  . . . God 
is  nearer  to  us  than  our  own  body,  1 
and  we  know  him  better  than  we) 
know  ourselves.” 


y/^iAc//Y^ . 


124 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


SrnusJ-  - C)Uv//~ 


Another  argument  for  immortality  is  drawn  from  the 
infinite  character  of  love. 

“ Q.  How  can  our  finite  intellect  pursue  the  infinite 
object  ? 

“A.  With  the  infinite  power  which  it  possesses  ; . . . for 
our  finite  intellect  pursues  the  infinite  object  because  the 
human  mind  is  eternal,  and  therein  is  its  delight ; and  it 
lias  neither  end  nor  measure  in  its  felicity  ” (W.  ii.  372). 

Another  argument  is  founded  on  the  fact  that,  as  the 
food  of  the  soul  is  truth,  which  is  immortal,  the  soul  must 
be  immortal  as  the  food  it  feeds  on.  “ Everything  which 
requires  nutrition  ” (W.  ii.  406)  “ has  a natural  know- 
ledge of  its  food  ; to  everything  is  inborn  the  understand- 
ing of  those  things  which  are  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  individual  and  the  stock,  and  which  later 
furthers  their  perfection.  On  this  knowledge  depends 
the  zeal  with  which  food  is  sought ; and  thus  striving  is 
implanted  in  the  nature  of  all  things,  and  from  cognition 
emanate  desire  and  love.  The  soul  desires  the  beautiful, 
the  good,  and  the  true  ; and  as  the  seeing  connects  itself 
with  the  sight,  so  the  desire  connects  itself  with  what  is 
desirable.” 

A second  argument  to  prove  the  separate  nature  of  the 
body  and  soul  is  grounded  on  the  fact  that  the  soul 
cannot  be  nourished  on  bodily  food  only ; nor  can  the 
body  live  on  food  proper  for  the  soul.  Again,  the  body 
and  soul  do  not  resemble  each  other,  as  would  be  natural 
if  they  were  one  and  the  same  essence  ; but  a great  soul 
will  dwell  in  a little  crooked  body,  and  the  proportions  of 
a hero  do  not  necessarily  envelop  a heroic  soul.  Since 
the  food  for  the  soul  is  goodness  and  beauty  and  truth,  it 
follows  that  they  are  incorporal  and  spiritual  things. 
Indeed  we  see  that  types  are  not  to  be  found  in  natural 
bodies,  though  existing  in  the  mind  ; which  again  proves 
truth  to  be  above  matter  ; while  our  desire  for  truth 
comes  from  an  innate  knowledge ; we  cannot  desire  that 
which  we  do  not  know ; innate  knowledge  is  a gift ; and 


OXFORD,  1583. 


125 


a gift  supposes  a giver.  “ For  I am  assured  that  Nature 
has  endowed  me  with  an  inward  sense  by  which  I can 
reason  from  the  beauty  before  my  eyes  to  the  light  and 
eminence  of  more  excellent  spiritual  beauty,  which  is 
light,  majesty,  and  divinity”  (W.  i.  175;  W.  ii.  381). 
“ The  soul  ” (W.  ii.  416)  “ drinks  of  the  divine  nectar, 
and  at  the  font  of  eternal  life.  . . . The  light  is  beyond  the 
circumference  of  the  horizon  . . . The  soul  which  has 
tasted  those  eternal  streams  burns  with  an  ardour  of  love 
which  the  ocean  could  not  quench,  and  which  the  rigour 
of  the  arctic  circle  could  not  temper.”  1 

It  is  probable,  remembering  the  infirmity  of  Bimno’s 
temper,  that  these  truths  were  placed  in  a light  objec- 
tionable to  the  Oxford  doctors ; for  his  lectures  roused  an 
acrimonious  spirit  which  resulted  in  his  quitting  the  town. 
According  to  his  version  of  the  encounter,  he  was  near 
coming  to  blows  with  the  pedagogues,  who  were  slenderly 
endowed  in  argument.  They  came  armed,  not  with 
prudence  and  power,  but  with  “ hearts  that  died  of 
cold,  and  learning  that  died  of  hunger.”  Fifteen  times 
they  rose  to  the  fray,  and  fifteen  times  “ that  chicken  in 


1 This  reasoning  may  be  contrasted 
with  the  Platonic  arguments  for  im- 
mortality. The  first  is  based  on  de- 
struction. All  moral  things  have 
their  especial  evil  and  destroying 
enemy.  Blindness  destroys  the  eye- 
sight— does  wickedness  destroy  the 
soul  ? No.  It  may  cause  a man  to 
be  put  to  death  by  others.  But 
nothing  can  destroy  the  soul,  not 
even  its  own  wickedness  ; therefore 
the  soul  is  immortal  (Book  x.  Repub- 
lic). We  perceive  the  soul  dwindle 
and  apparently  disappear  in  bodies 
consumed  by  wickedness  ; but  the 
same  will  happen  in  an  injured  or 
idiotic  body  when  the  soul  wanders 
in  illusions,  babbling  of  green  fields, 
and  of  its  ruling  passion,  vanishing 
and  reappearing  like  dying  flashes 
in  fire.  The  destruction,  therefore, 
is  apparent  only,  and,  like  the  rain 
from  heaven,  it  falls  alike  upon  the 


just  and  the  unjust.  In  a second 
argument  Socrates  endeavours  to 
show  that  the  soul,  like  the  eye,  the 
ear,  and  every  other  thing,  has  a 
work  or  function  to  perform,  and 
possesses  a virtue  by  which  alone  it 
can  be  enabled  to  perform  that  work. 
This  virtue  of  the  soul  is  justice, 
which  is  a kind  of  natural  harmony 
and  healthy  habit  of  mind,  turning 
the  mind  from  the  shadows  which 
are  seen,  to  their  forms  or  archetypes, 
from  the  visible  to  the  invisible,  and 
filling  the  soul  with  the  divine,  the 
immortal,  the  eternal,  which  it 
would  itself  become  if  it  were  in- 
variably to  pursue  divine  things. 
Thus  all  those  pursuits  which  excite 
the  mind  to  reflect  upon  the  essen- 
tial nature  of  things  bring  it  under 
the  dominion  of  a just  and  divine 
principle. 


126 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


stubble,”  the  Corypheus  of  the  Academy,  was  worsted  by 
the  Nolan.  “ Let  it  be  recounted  to  you,”  continues 
Bruno,  “ with  what  incivility  and  discourtesy  that  pig 1 
proceeded,  and  with  what  patience  and  humanity  that 
other  responds,  who  showed  the  bearing  of  a Neapolitan 
born,  of  one  nurtured  under  a more  benignant  sky. 
Learn,  too,  in  what  manner  the  Nolan’s  public  lectures 
were  brought  to  an  end”  (W.  ii.  179). 

Bruno’s  arguments  were  very  ill  received,  as  he  himself 
said  at  Wittenberg  ( De  Lampade  Combin.),  but  there  is  no 
contemporary  account  of  the  disputation,  and  in  about 
three  months  his  career  at  Oxford  was  over.  The  house 
of  Castelnau  was  his  home,  and  he  seems  to  have  looked 
to  the  circle  of  friends  in  London  for  appreciation — the 
chief  of  these  being  Philip  Sidney  and  Fulk  Greville. 

The  printer  Vautrollier 2 gave  Giordano  Bruno  the 


1 Mediseval  pedagogues  eomnionly 
called  each  other  pig,  with  accusa- 
tions of  buffoonery,  discreditable 
pretension,  ignorant  and  stupendous 
asinity,  &c.  Charpentier  spoke  of 
his  rival  Ramus  as  “ un  pore;” 
Luther  called  the  schoolmen  “ lo- 
custs, caterpillars,  frogs,  lice.”  Gol- 
dast  was  “an  execrable  biped,”  “a 
lying  monster,”  and  the  author  of  a 
“damnable  book.”  Scaliger  calls 
Marcile  (who  was  professor  of  elo- 
quence at  the  Royal  College  of 
France)  a monkey,  a scarabceus,  and 
worse.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  was 
called  “a  pig  ” by  the  Jesuit  Guig- 
nar.  Calvin  and  Beza,  at  the  formal 
colloquy  of  Poissy,  were  distin- 
guished as  “apes,  foxes,  and  mon- 
sters.” Nor  have  modern  times  im- 
proved on  this  plain  dealing,  for 
O'Connell  addressed  his  opponents 
in  the  House  of  Commons  as  “pigs 
and  scorpions.” 

2 Erdmann,  Basis  for  the  History 
of  Philosophy,  vol.  i.  p.  553.  Ames’s 
Typographical  Antiquities  contains 
the  following  Thomas  Vautrol- 
lier was  a scholar  and  printer 
from  Paris  or  Roan,  came  into  Eng- 
land about  the  beginning  of  Queen 


Elizabeth’s  reign,  and  first  settled 
his  printing-office  in  Black  Friers. 
What  he  did  to  the  year  1574  don’t 
appear  to  me.  Pie  married  his 
daughter  Jakin  to  Richard  Field, 
printer,  in  Black  Friers,  the  12th 
January  1588,  and  buried  several 
children  in  that  parish,  as  appears 
from  their  church  books.  He  was  a 
most  curious  printer,  as  will  be 
evident  to  any  that  look  into  his 
books  ; and  commonly  used  an 
anchor  within  a compartment,  with 
this  motto,  Anchorci  Spei.  Mr. 
Baker,  in  a letter  to  me,  says  he 
was  the  printer  of  Jordanus  Brunus 
in  the  year  1 584,  for  which  he  fled, 
and  the  next  year  being  at  Edin- 
burgh, in  Scotland,  he  first  taught 
that  nation  the  way  of  good  print- 
ing, and  there  staid  until  such  time 
as  by  the  intercession  of  friends  he 
had  got  his  pardon,  as  appears  by 
a book  dedicated  to  the  Right 
Worshipful  Mr  Thomas  Ran- 
dolph, Esq.,  where  he  returns 
him  thanks  for  his  great  favour 
and  for  assisting  him  in  his  dis- 
tress ; printed  in  octavo,  1587. 
‘ 1584.  — Spacio  de  la  Bestia 
Trionfante,  proposto  da  gioue,  effet- 


DISPUTATION  IN  LONDON. 


127 


opportunity  of  explaining  liis  philosophy  in  London. 
Here  in  quick  succession  his  best  Italian  works  were 
printed.  “ It  cannot  be  called  a chance,”  says  Erd- 
mann, “ that  he  who  had  broken  with  the  Church,  and 
could  hope  for  nothing  from  the  universities,  despised 
the  language  of  both,  and  spoke  in  the  speech  which 
was  his  mother  tongue,  and  favoured  beyond  all  at  the 
English  court  and  in  the  refined  circles  of  London.” 
Accordingly  we  find  that  his  only  theme  was  no  longer 
the  art  of  Lully,  with  its  antiquated  and  mystical  sym- 
bols ; and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  six  philosophical 
works  in  Italian  which  were  printed  by  Vautrollier  in 
London  do  not  contain  a vestige  of  this  complicated 
system. 

In  a second  disputation,  Bruno  seems  to  have  fared 
no  better  than  at  Oxford.  He  relates  in  the  Supper  of 
Ashes  that  Fulk  Greville  invited  him  with  other  persons, 
on  the  evening  of  Ash  Wednesday,  “ to  hear  the  reasons 
of  his  belief  that  the  earth  moves.”  “ To  whom  the 
Nolan  responded  that  he  could  give  him  no  reasons,  not 
being  acquainted  with  his  capacity,  nor  knowing  how  he 
might  be  heard  by  him,  and  therefore  he  feared  to  be  like 
those  who  give  their  reasons  to  statutes  and  parley  with 
the  dead.  But  from  the  desire  he  had  to  show  the  im- 
becility of  such  opinions  by  the  self-same  principles  on 


tuato  dal  conseglo,  revelato  da  Mer- 
curic), recitato  da  Sophia,  Vdito 
da  Saulino,  registrato  dal  Nolano. 
Diviso  in  tre  dialogi,  subdivisi  in 
tre  parti.  Consecrato  al  molto 
illustre  et  eccellente  cavalliero  Sig. 
Philippo  Sidneo.  Stampato  in 
Parigi,  mdlxxxiiii.’  It  contains 
261  pages.  The  epistle  dedicatory 
to  Sir  Philip  Sidney  contains  15 
leaves,  and  was  not  translated  by 
Toland  (if  he  was  translator)  when 
he  reprinted  the  English  edition 
in  the  year  1713.  Interlocutori,  So- 
phia, Saulino,  Mercurio.  This,  Mr. 
Baker  says,  is  that  little  atheistical 
book  lately  sold  at  Charles  Ber- 


nard’s sale  for  £ 28  to  "Walter 
Clavel,  Esq.,  and  is  now  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  that  of  James 
West,  Esq.,  and  in  my  own  study. 
‘ 1585. — Giordano  Bruno  Nolano, 
de  gli  Heroici  Furori,  al  molto 
illustre  et  eccellente  Caualliero, 
Signor  Phillippo  Sidneo.  Parigi 
appresso  Antonio  Baio,  8vo.’  ” 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  list  is  by 
no  means  complete.  Vautrollier’s 
patent  was  granted  16  of  Eliz., 
19th  June  1574,  and  the  first  book 
printed  by  him  on  Ames’s  register 
is  a New  Testament,  dated  1574. 
He  could  not,  therefore,  have  come 
to  England  with  Bruno. 


123 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


which  their  confirmation  is  founded,  it  would  afford  him 
no  small  pleasure  to  find  persons  worthy  of  this  teaching, 
and  he  would  be  always  ready  and  willing  to  respond.” 
A full  account  of  the  meeting  will  be  found  in  the  fourth 
dialogue  of  the  Supper  of  Ashes  (W.  i.  179—183),  and 
it  is  easy  to  imagine  how  a disputation  would  end  which 
was  undertaken  in  this  stubborn  humour. 

It  was  not  till  1579,  when  passing  through  Milan  on 
his  way  to  Lyons  and  Paris,  that  Bruno  first  heard  the 
name  of  Sidney  (W.  i.  145),  although  the  English  poet 
had  studied  at  Padua  not  three  years  before  Bruno’s  visit 
to  that  city.  As  a philosophic  poet  Sidney  had  much  in 
common  with  the  poetic  philosophy  of  Bruno ; and  a 
society  in  imitation  of  the  Italian  Academies,  numbering 
Sidney,  Greville,  Dyer,  Spenser,  and  Temple  among  its 
members,  soon  received  the  Nolan  into  fellowship. 

“ Philosophical  and  metaphysical  subjects  of  a nice 
and  delicate  nature,”  we  learn  from  Zonch,  the  biogra- 
pher of  Sidney,  “ were  there  discussed,  and  the  doors  of 
the  apartments  in  which  they  met  were  kept  shut ; ” and 
in  the  Supper  of  Ashes  Bruno  says  (W.  i.  1 1 7,  137, 
150),  “We  met  in  a chamber  in  the  house  of  Sir  Fulk 
Greville  ...  to  discuss  moral,  metaphysical,  mathema- 
tical, and  natural  speculations.”  It  was  here  probably 
that  many  of  the  sonnets  in  the  Heroic  Rapture  were 
first  read ; and  though  few  English  readers  will  agree 
with  Dr.  Brunnhofer  that  these  verses  equal  Shakespeare 
and  Petrarch,  yet  for  fire,  lyrical  tone,  and  exalted  pur- 
pose they  may  compare  favourably  with  the  poetry  of  the 
age.  “ There  is  none  more  proper,”  he  writes  in  the 
argument  to  the  Heroic  Rapture  (W.  ii.  31  1),  addressed 
to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  “ to  receive  the  dedication  of  these 
discourses  than  you,  excellent  sir,  lest  I should  hold  a 
miri’or  to  the  blind  and  a lyre  to  him  who  is  deaf,  as  I 
have  done  from  want  of  heed,  and  as  others  do  from 
habit.  To  you,  therefore,  they  are  presented,  that  the 
Italian  may  reason  with  him  who  has  understanding ; 


“ UPON  HEROIC  rapture: 


129 


that  verse  may  be  under  the  countenance  and  judgment 
of  a poet ; that  Philosophy  may  show  herself  in  present 
nakedness  to  your  fair  understanding ; that  heroic  things 
may  be  directed  to  an  heroic  and  generous  soul,  such  as 
that  with  which  you  are  endowed ; and  that  homage  may 
be  offered  to  one  of  such  worth  as  is  ever  made  manifest 
in  you.” 

The  following  rough  translations  will  serve  to  give 
some  idea  of  Bruno’s  verse.  The  opening  sonnet  in  the 
work  upon  Heroic  Rapture  runs  as  follows  (W.  ii.  312)  : — 

The  Defence  of  The  Nolan. 

Inscribed  to  the  most  Virtuous  and  Delightful  Ladies. 

0 ye  whose  beauty  decks  the  English  land  ! 

Not  mine  the  soul  your  sweet  array  to  scorn  ; 

And  not  to  write  you  less  be  mine  the  hand, 

Save  when  I write  you  women  ; for  the  morn, 

The  twinkling  eve,  and  sable  cove  of  night 
Bore  never  children  of  the  light 
Fairer  than  ye,  0 stars  of  happy  earth  ! 

Spouses  and  daughters  of  angelic  birth, 

Not  Envy’s  breath,  and  not  her  hand  austere, 

Withhold  your  praise,  and  none  your  beauty  mars. 

Asps  have  no  sting  and  venom  no  endeavour 
Where,  set  on  high,  fair  Dian  1 doth  appear 
Above  you  like  the  sun  above  the  stars  ; 

And  mine  the  task  to  do  you  homage  ever. 


The  first  dialogue  of  Heroic  Rapture  opens  with  a 
sonnet,  the  substance  of  which,  together  with  certain  of 


Bruno’s  comments  (W.  ii. 
following  lines  : — 

o 

1 Before  Elizabeth,  the  unique 
Diana  of  these  lines,  was  born, 
Erasmus  wrote  his  often-quoted 
letter  in  praise  of  Englishwomen — 
“ those  bland  and  easy  nymphs,  with 
more  than  Muse-like  charms.  En- 
tering, they  salute  thee  ; departing, 
they  embrace  thee.  O Eaustus,  didst 
thou  but  know  the  delicacy  and 
sweetness  surrounding  these  divini- 


316),  will  be  found  in  the 


ties,  thou  wouldst  engage  to  travel, 
not  ten  years,  but  all  thy  life,  and 
for  ever  in  England.”  In  spite  of 
the  roughness  of  the  populace,  de- 
plored by  him,  Bruno  records  an 
equally  candid  tribute  to  the  charms 
of  Englishwomen.  The  Supper  of 
Ashes  opens  with  their  praises,  and 
they  are  twice  singled  out  for  appro- 
bation in  the  Heroic  Rapture. 

I 


1 3o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Come,  Muse,  0 Muse,  so  often  scorned  by  me, 

The  hope  of  sorrow  and  the  balm  of  care, 

Give  to  me  speech  and  song,  that  I may  be 
Unchid  by  grief  ; grant  me  such  graces  rare 
As  other  ministering  souls  may  never  see 
Who  boast  thy  laurel,  and  thy  myrtle  wear. 

I know  no  joy  wherein  thou  hast  not  part,' 

My  speeding  wind,  my  anchor,  and  my  goal ; 

Come,  fair  Parnassus,  lift  thou  up  my  heart ; 

Come,  Helicon,  renew  my  thirsty  soul ; 

A cypress  crown,  0 Muse,  is  mine  to  give, 

And  pain  eternal  ; take  this  weary  frame, 

\ Touch  me  with  fire,  and  this  my  death  shall  live 
On  all  men’s  lips'hnd  in  undying  fame.  . . . 

A sonnet  follows  in  the  mock-heroic  vein  dear  to  the 


0 Heart,  ’tis  you  my  chief  Parnassus  are, 

Where  for  my  safety  I must  ever  climb. 

My  winged  thoughts  are  Muses,  who  from  far 
Bring  gifts  of  beauty  to  the  court  of  Time  ; 

And  Helicon,  that  fair  un wasted  rill, 

Springs  newly  in  my  tears  upon  the  earth, 

And  by  those  streams  and  nymphs,  and  by  that  hill, 

It  pleased  the  gods  to  give  a poet  birth. 

No  favouring  hand  that  comes  of  lofty  race, 

No  priestly  unction,  nor  the  grant  of  kings, 

Can  on  me  lay  such  lustre  and  such  grace, 

Nor  add  such  heritage  ; for  one  who  sings 
Hath  a crowned  head,  and  by  the  sacred  bay, 

His  heart,  his  thoughts,  His  tears,  are  consecrate  alway. 


The  moth  beholds  not  death  as  forth  he  flies 
Into  the  splendour  of  the  living  flame  ; 

The  hart  athirst  to  crystal  water  hies, 

Nor  heeds  the  shaft,  nor  fears  the  hunter’s  aim  ; 
The  timid  bird,  returning  from  above 
To  join  his  mate,  deems  not  the  net  is  nigh  ; 
Unto  the  light,  the  fount,  and  to  my  love, 
Seeing  the  flame,  the  shaft,  the  chains,  I fly  ; 

So  high  a torch,  love  lighted  in  the  skies, 
Consumes  my  soul,  and  with  this  bow  divine 


Sonnet  XII. 


UPON  HEROIC  RAPTURE: 


131 


Of  piercing  sweetness  what  terrestrial  vies  ? 

This  net  of  dear  delight  doth  prison  mine  ; 

And  I to  life’s  last  day  have  this  desire— 

Be  mine  thine  arrows,  Love,  and  mine  thy  fire. 

— (W.  ii.  331.) 

Sonnet  XVI.1 

Winged  by  desire  and  thee,  0 dear  delight  ! 

As  still  the  vast  and  succouring  air  I tread, 

So,  mounting  still,  on  swifter  pinions  sped, 

I scorn  the  world,  and  Heaven  receives  my  flight. 

And  if  the  end  of  Ikaros  be  nigh, 

I will  submit,  for  I shall  know  no  pain  : 

And  falling  dead  to  earth,  shall  rise  again  ; 

What  lowly  life  with  such  high  death  can  vie  ? 

Then  speaks  my  heart  from  out  the  upper  air, 

“ Whither  dost  lead  me  1 sorrow  and  despair 
Attend  the  rash  : ” and  thus  I make  reply, 

“ Fear  thou  no  fall,  nor  lofty  ruin  sent ; 

Safely  divide  the  clouds,  and  die  content, 

When  such  proud  death  is  dealt  thee  from  on  high.” 


Somewhat  later  in  the  book  (393)  Bruno  again  alludes 
to  this  sonnet.  “ As  happens  to  one  flying  in  the  air, 
the  higher  he  rises  above  the  earth  the  more  he  has  of 
air  beneath  sustaining  him ; and,  in  consequence,  he  is 
the  less  exposed  to  the  plagues  of  gravitation : thus  he 
can  fly  the  higher  because  he  cannot  return  to  the  under 
world  without  painfully  dividing  the  air,  although  he  may 
consider  it  were  easier  to  divide  the  depths  of  air  about 
our  earth  than  the  heights  of  air  about  the  other  stars. 
Thus  with  proficiency  in  this  progress  comes  greater  and 


1 This  sonnet  (No.  16  in  the 
Heroic  Rapture)  is  the  work  of  Tan- 
sillo,  the  Neapolitan  poet,  in  whose 
mouth  it  is  placed  by  Bruno.  It 
is  in  part  an  echo  of  a sonnet  by 
Petrarch  (No.  cxxxv.,  Part  ia): — 

“ Sentofar  del  mio  cor  dolce  rapina 
E si  dentro  cangiar  pensieri  e voglie, 
Ch'io  dico;  or  fiandi  me  Vultime  spoglie 
Se  il  del  si  onesta  morte  mi  destina." 

The  sonnets  in  the  Heroic  Rapture 
numbered  3,  5,  6,  13,  are  also  written 
by  Tansillo.  The  third  sonnet  has 


the  words  odio  me  stesso,  which  occur 
in  Sonnet  cxiv.,  written  by  Tansillo. 
There  is  a marked  resemblance  be- 
tween Bruno’s  sonnet,  No.  33  (which 
is  compared  by  Brunnhofer  to  Shake- 
speare), and  the  sonnet  by  Tansillo 
numbered  CL.  inFiorentino’sedition. 
Traces  of  the  influence  of  Tansillo 
may  be  found  in  Bruno’s  third  son- 
net at  the  beginning  of  the  Infinity, 
in  No.  12  of  Heroic  Rapture,  and  in 
a Latin  sonnet  in  the  fourth  book 
of  He  Immenso  (chap.  i. ) 


132 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


greater 


facility  in  mounting  aloft.  For  every  part  of 
bodies  and  of  the  said  elements,  when  approaching  their 
natural  home,  move  with  the  greater  impetus  and  potency; 
thus  whether  a man  will  or  no,  he  must  needs  arrive  there. 
And  as  we  may  divine  bodies  from  parts  of  bodies,  so  we 
may  judge  of  things  intellectual  by  their  objects,  as  their 
places,  countries,  and  aims.” 

Some  verses  on  the  same  page  faintly  recall  the  lines, 
“ Doubt  that  the  stars  are  fire.”  The  “ felicitous  phrase  ” 
of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  “ that  sweet  enemy  France,”  which 
delighted  Charles  Lamb,  was  perhaps  borrowed  from  Bruno. 
FTe  speaks  of  “ my  sweet  enemy  ” in  Sonnet  49,  and  the 
expression  occurs  again  in  Sonnet  52.  As  the  book  was 
dedicated  to  Sidney,  the  words  may  very  well  have  found 
their  way  into  his  sonnets.  Bruno  uses  them  when  speak- 
ing of  heroic  love,  with  “ its  sweet  anger,  the  efficacious 
assaults  of  that  gracious  enemy,  too  long  a stranger  and 
„ pilgrim.”  “ 0 worthy  love  of  the  beautiful ! 0 desire  for  the 

A/At/An.  ^ divine  1 ” he  cries,  “ lend  me  thy  wings  ; bring  me  to  the 

U****^-^*  dayspring,  to  the  clearness  of  the  young  morning;  and 
the  outrage  of  the  rabble,  the  storms  of  Time,  the  slings 
_ and  arrows  of  Fortune,  shall  fall  upon  this  tender  body 


UlliUUO  W J.  i UUUU,  Q1U 

/A. < / shall  weld  it  to  steel.” 


L ^^^^^y^^The  following  lines  (W.  ii.  392)  are  inspired  by  this 
’ 7 subject : — 

fa  Wo  *'****- 

C******  cf 


te*— 
<T<-  - 


\ 


L.  Ow»vl*M> 


1 


“ While  that  the  sun  upon  his  round  doth  burn, 

And  to  their  source  the  roving  planets  flee,  tk 
Things  of  the  earth  do  to  the  earth  return,  1 
And  parted  waters  hasten  to  the  sea,  £\) , (bvuilci'b. 

So  shall  my  spirit  to  the  high  gods  turn, 

And  heaven-born  thought  to  Heaven  shall  carry  me. 


The  work  continues  in  the  same  spirit.  Love  is  the 
foundation  of  all  spiritual  life ; without  love  man  cannot 
live,  for,  owing  to  his  weakness,  he  must  find  strength  in 
union  with  another.  Love,  according  to  its  object,  is  the 
source  of  good  and  evil : the  lower  love  of  transient  things 
and  the  higher  love  of  eternal  and  divine  things  correspond 


“ UPON  HEROIC  RAPTURE .”  133 

with  the  various  degrees  of  cognition.  To  know  God  and  - • • -j  ■ 

not  to  love  him  is  impossible : the  love  of  the  higher  good 
of  necessity  purifies  man  of  all  lower  desires ; the  fine 
conception  of  a perfect  union  with  God,  by  means  of  which 
love  and  the  beloved  object  become  one, — these  ideas  are 
repeated  with  the  innumerable  decorations  and  enrich- 
ments of  a luxuriant  poetic  fancy  unchecked  by  any  severe 
sense  of  form. 

The  following  graceful  version  is  from  the  pen  of  the 
late  Isa  Blagden  d — 

The  Song  of  the  Nine  Singers. 

The  first  sings  and  plays  the  cithern. 

0 cliffs  and  rocks  ! 0 thorny  woods  ! 0 shore  ! 

0 hills  and  dales  ! 0 valleys,  rivers,  seas  ! 

How  do  your  new-discovered  beauties  please  ? 

0 Nymph,  ’tis  yours  the  guerdon  rare, 

If  now  the  open  skies  shine  fair  ; 

0 happy  wanderings,  well  spent  and  o’er  ! 

The  second  sings  and  plays  to  his  mandoline. 

0 happy  wanderings,  well  spent  and  o’er  ! 

Say,  then,  0 Circe,  these  heroic  tears, 

These  griefs,  endured  through  tedious  months  and  years, 

Were  as  a grace  divine  bestowed 
If  now  our  weary  travail  is  no  more. 

The  third  sings  and  plays  to  his  lyre. 

If  now  our  weary  travail  is  no  more  ! 

If  this  sweet  haven  be  our  destined  rest, 

Then  nought  remains  but  to  be  blest,  \ 

To  thank  our  God  for  all  his  gifts, 

Who  from  our  eyes  the  veil  uplifts, 

Where  shines  the  light  upon  the  heavenly  shore. 

The  fourth  sings  to  the  viol. 

Where  shines  the  light  upon  the  heavenly  shore  ! 

0 blindness,  dearer  far  than  others’  sight  ! 

0 sweeter  grief  than  earth’s  most  sweet  delight  ! 

For  ye  have  led  the  erring  soul 
By  gradual  steps  to  this  fair  goal, 

And  through  the  darkness  into  light  we  soar. 

1 One  of  the  earliest  English  this  accomplished  lady,  appeared  in 
articles  on  Bruno,  from  the  pen  of  Fraser  s Magazine  for  March  1871. 


134 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


The  fifth  sings  to  a Spanish  timbrel. 

And  through  the  darkness  into  light  we  soar  ! 

To  full  fruition  all  high  thought  is  brought, 

With  such  brave  patience  that  ev’n  we 
At  least  the  only  path  can  see, 

And  in  his  noblest  work  our  God  adore. 

The  sixth  sings  to  a lute. 

And  in  his  noblest  work  our  God  adore  ! 

God  doth  not  will  joy  should  to  joy  succeed, 

Nor  ill  shall  be  of  other  ill  the  seed  ; 

But  in  his  hand  the  wheel  of  fate 
Turns,  now  depressed  and  now  elate, 

Evolving  day  from  night  for  evermore. 

The  seventh  sings  to  the  Irish  harp. 

Evolving  day  from  night  for  evermore  ! 

And  as  yon  robe  of  glorious  nightly  fire 
Pales  when  the  morning  beams  to  noon  aspire 
Thus  he  who  rules  with  law  eternal, 

Creating  order  fair  diurnal, 

Casts  down  the  proud  and  doth  exalt  the  poor. 

The  eighth  plays  with  a viol  and  bow. 

Casts  down  the  proud  and  doth  exalt  the  poor  ! 

And  with  an  equal  hand  maintains 
The  boundless  worlds  which  he  sustains, 

And  scatters  all  our  finite  sense 
At  thought  of  his  omnipotence, 

Clouded  awhile,  to  be  revealed  once  more. 

The  ninth  plays  upon  the  rebeclc. 

Clouded  awhile,  to  be  revealed  once  more  ! 

Thus  neither  doubt  nor  fear  avails  ; 

O’er  all  the  incomparable  End  prevails, 

O’er  fair  champaign  and  mountain, 

O’er  river-brink  and  fountain, 

And  o’er  the  shocks  of  seas  and  perils  of  the  shore. 

(These  verses  will  recall  the  well-known  lines  of  Car- 
dinal Newman : 

“ So  long  thy  power  hath  blest  me,  sure  it  still  will  lead  me  on, 
O’er  moor  and  fen,  o’er  crag  and  torrent,  till  the  night  is  gone.” 


“ UPON  HEROIC  RAPTURE: 


135 


The  original  “ stagni,  fiumi,  mari,  rupi,  spine”  is  still 
closer  than  the  translation.) 

As  soon  as  these  verses  have  been  sung  severally  by 
each  singer  to  his  own  instrument,  the  nine  singers  form 
a moving  circle,  and  sound  the  praises  of  the  English 
nymph  in  sweet  consent.  In  this  allegoric  poem  Jove 
and  Neptune  are  represented  in  friendly  strife  for  pre- 
cedence. 

Canticle  op  the  Shining  Ones. 

“ Nothing  I envy,  Jove,  from  this  thy  sky,” 

Spake  Neptune  thus,  and  raised  his  lofty  crest. 

“ God  of  the  waves,”  said  Jove,  “ thy  pride  runs  high, 

What  more  wouldst  add  to  own  thy  stem  behest  1 ” 

“ Thou,”  spake  the  god,  “ dost  rule  the  fiery  span, 

The  circling  spheres,  the  glittering  shafts  of  day  ; 

Greater  am  I,  who  in  the  realm  of  man 

Eule  Thames,  with  all  his  Nymphs  in  fair  array. 

In  this  iny  breast  I hold  the  fruitful  land, 

The  vasty  reaches  of  the  trembling  sea, 

And  what  in  night’s  bright  dome,  or  day’s,  shall  stand 
Before  these  radiant  maids  who  dwell  with  me  ] ” 

“ Not  thine,”  said  Jove,  “ god  of  the  watery  mount, 

To  exceed  my  lot ; but  thou  my  lot  shalt  share  : 

Thy  heavenly  maids  among  my  stars  I’ll  count, 

And  thou  shalt  own  the  stars  beyond  compare  ! ” 

This  portentous  compliment  to  English  ladies  brings 
the  Heroic  Rapture  to  an  appropriate  close. 


( 136  ) 


CHAPTER  VI. 

And  when  I leave  this  rabble  rout  and  defilement  of  the  world,  I leave 
it  as  an  inn,  and  not  as  a place  of  abode.  For  Nature  has  given  us 
our  bodies  as  an  inn  to  lodge  in,  and  not  to  dwell  in.” — Cato. 


Second  Visit  to  Paris,  1585.  The  Disputation.  Portrait  of  Bruno. 
Value  of  Induction  and  of  the  Imagination.  Influence  of  his 
Philosophy  upon  his  Character.  Its  Influence  on  Descartes, 
Spinoza,  and  Leibnitz. 

The  last  three  months  of  1585  and  six  months  of  1586 
were  spent  by  Bruno  in  Paris.  “ The  ambassador,”  he 
says,  “ returned  to  the  court  of  France,  and  I was  in  his 
train ; and  I remained  in  Paris  another  year,  keeping 
company  with  certain  gentlemen  of  my  acquaintance,  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  at  my  own  expense.”  In  another 
place  he  speaks  of  his  return  from  London  “ with  him  who 
preserved  me  from  the  Oxford  pedants  and  from  hunger,” 
two  evils  which  he  seems  to  have  regarded  as  equal. 

It  is  not  clear  in  what  month  M.  Castelnau  de  Mau- 
vissiere  quitted  England.  His  recall  was  dated  July 
1585,  but  “ a passport  for  M.  de  Malvisier  and  his  wife  ” 
was  not  issued  until  September.  For  some  months  he 
was  in  treaty  with  Elizabeth  for  the  removal  of  Mary 
Stuart  from  Tutbury  to  Chartley,  which  was  not  effected 
until  the  1 3th  of  September.  And  a letter  is  extant, 
dated  November  1 7,  in  which  Mary  Stuart  speaks  of  the 
ambassador’s  long  absence  from  London,  whence  it  seems 
fair  to  conclude  that  Mauvissiere  left  England  with  Bruno 
during  the  second  fortnight  of  September.  “ I remained,” 
Bruno  says  in  the  evidence  at  the  trial  (Doc.  ix.)  “ two 
years  and  a half  in  England,  not  going  to  mass  when  it 
was  said  indoors,  nor  out  of  doors,  nor  to  sermons.” 


PARIS,  1586. 


1 37 


In  Paris  lie  lived  privately,  busied  with  two  dialogues 
upon  the  mathematical  works  of  his  countryman,  Fab- 
bricio  Mordente,  and  with  a commentary  on  a book  of 
Aristotle,  which  were  printed  in  1 586.1 

But  these  works  were  not  his  chief  occupation.  While 
in  Paris  he  made  efforts  to  reconcile  himself  with  the 
Church,  through  the  Pope’s  Nuncio  and  through  Don 
Bernardino  di  Mendoza,  who  was  ambassador  of  the  King 
of  Spain.  “ But  I was  told  ” (Doc.  xii.)  “ that  they  could 
not  absolve  me  from  my  apostasy,  and  that  I could  not 
go  to  the  divine  offices ; and  therefore  I remained  away 
from  confession  and  from  the  mass,  with  the  intention, 
however,  to  escape  this  condemnation,  and  to  live  like  a 
Christian,  and  a religious  man.”  He  sought  (Doc.  xvii.) 
to  avoid  returning  into  the  bonds  of  regular  obedience, 
cherishing  the  hope  that  certain  works  of  his  might  be 
acceptable  in  the  Pope’s  eyes,  and  that  thus,  though  no 
longer  a monk,  he  might  dwell  in  peace  and  at  liberty. 
Moreover,  he  adds,  that  in  the  hope  of  pardon,  and  that 
he  might  be  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic 
Church  without  being  forced  to  return  to  a religious  life, 
he  earnestly  prayed  and  besought  the  Nuncio  to  address 
himself  to  the  Pope ; “ but  Sixtus  V.”  (Doc.  xvii.)  “ being 
then  alive,  the  Nuncio  would  not  write,  fearing  not  to 
obtain  this  favour,  offering,  however,  to  write  and  to  help 
me  if  I would  return  to  the  religious  life ; and  he  then 
directed  me  to  a Jesuit  father,  whose  name  I remember 
was  Padre  Alons,  a Spaniard,  who,  being  alive,  can  con- 
firm it  to  you,  and  I spoke  with  him  upon  my  case,  and 

1 Fabbrieio  Mordente  of  Salerno  and  to  prove  that  the  descent  of  the 
was  a personal  friend  of  Bruno,  Magi  is  still  unbroken.  Mordente 
whose  easily  aroused  enthusiasm  re-  travelled  much,  in  order  to  observe 
garding  this  “ divine  discovery”  is  the  customs  and  laws  of  men,  with 
recorded  in  a long  preface.  Mor-  the  precise  elevation  of  the  poles  of 
dente  aspired  to  revive  the  fallen  their  countries.  The  “divine  dis- 
meehanical  arts  by  means  of  an  covery  ” purported  to  take  the  exact 
“ excellent,  dignified,  and  majestic  measure  of  the  earth  and  to  square 
invention  ; ” he  is  addressed  as  one  the  circle.  Mordente  was  appointed 
of  the  Mercuries  dispatched  from  on  mathematician  to  the  Emperor 
high  to  minister  to  our  necessities,  Rudolf  II. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


ijS 

lie  persuaded  me  that  it  was  necessary  I should  procure 
absolution  from  the  Pope’s  censure,  and  that  I could  do 
no  less  than  return  to  the  religious  life  ; and  he  likewise 
warned  me  that,  being  excommunicated,  I could  not  assist 
at  the  divine  offices,  but  that  I might  hear  sermons  and 
say  my  prayers  in  church.” 

This  evidence  is  confirmed  by  a Dominican  friar,  Do- 
menico da  Nocera  (Doc.  x.),  who  in  May  1592,  when 
quitting  the  sacristy  of  the  Church  of  SS.  Giovanni  and 
Paolo,  was  accosted  by  a man  wearing  a secular  habit. 
This  was  Bruno,  who  assured  the  friar  that  he  strongly 
desired  to  be  reconciled  to  Rome,  and  to  dwell  there  in 
peace,  and  to  follow  his  literary  calling. 

Full  of  the  same  hope  he  undertook  a parting  disputa- 
tion at  Pentecost  in  Paris,  where  it  seems  he  was  subject 
either  to  a trial  or  to  a preliminary  examination ; for 
in  the  eleventh  document  of  the  trial  at  Venice,  while 
asserting  that  he  had  taught  nothing  directly  against  the 
Christian  and  Catholic  religion,  he  adds  that  “ it  was 
determined  in  Paris  ” that  his  doctrines  were  indirectly 
opposed  to  the  Catholic  religion. 

The  university,  which  was  no  doubt  closed  to  him  on 
account  of  his  uncompromising  attitude  towards  the 
Church,  had  signified  its  willingness,  through  the  rector, 
Jehan  Filesac,  to  hear  him  in  disputation.  One  hundred 
and  twenty  theses  against  the  Peripatetics,  with  thirty 
Pytliagoric  and  Platonic  theses,  were  submitted  by  Bruno 
to  the  rector ; and  on  the  understanding  that  the  theses 
were  to  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  natural  philosophy, 
and  not  with  the  eye  of  faith,  permission  to  hold  the  dis- 
putation was  granted.  A delicate  compliment  was  offered 
to  the  King  by  appointing  the  disputation  for  Pentecost, 
a season  on  which  he  looked  with  special  favour,  because 
it  had  endowed  him  in  one  day  with  the  crowns  of  Poland 
and  of  France.1 

1 The  order  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  instituted  by  Henry  IY.  to  com- 
memorate these  events. 


PARIS,  1386. 


139 


According  to  the  custom  of  the  universities,  Bruno’s 
theses  were  placed  in  the  mouth  of  a candidate,  Jean 
Hennequin,  “ nobilis  Parisiensisi’  In  his  own  words, 
Hennequin  espouses  the  cause  of  the  Nolan  because  he  is 
“ single  and  alone,  an  innovator  not  approved  by  the 
many,  but  rather  rejected  by  them  ; seeing  him  supported 
by  the  little  band  of  wise  and  divine  men  long  since  for- 
gotten, . . . and  desiring  to  defend  him  against  the  solid 
train  of  those  who,  during  the  long  course  and  lapse  of 
ages,  in  so  many  countries  and  in  a great  multitude  of  uni- 
versities, have  brought  the  Muses  into  bondage”  (Gfr.  1 1). 

According  to  the  custom  of  these  literary  tournaments, 
the  president  was  responsible  for  the  candidate’s  proposi- 
tions, objections,  citations,  and  augmentations,  and  when 
his  stock  of  logic  was  exhausted,  the  president  came  to 
his  assistance.  At  times  the  former  scarcely  opened  his 
mouth,  and  the  president  engrossed  the  audience.  This 
was  probably  the  method  employed  by  Bruno.  For  a 
president  the  title  of  Master  of  Arts  was  indispensable.  It 
was  granted  to  students  in  philosophy  of  three  years  and 
a half  standing  in  Paris,  although  foreigners  who  held  a 
degree  from  other  universities  were  so  far  recognised  that 
two  years  of  foreign  study  were  reckoned  as  equal  to  one 
in  Paris. 

“ I am  about  to  thank  you,”  Bruno  wrote  to  Filesac, 
“ together  with  the  rectors  and  professors  of  your  univer- 
sity, for  many  acts  of  kindness.  The  most  learned  of  your 
body  have  honoured  my  teaching  either  with  their  pre- 
sence or  with  their  indulgence.  Thanks  to  you,  I am 
not  accounted  a stranger  in  this  academy,  which  is  the 
mother  of  letters.  Now  that  I must  wander  abroad 
through  other  universities,  I cannot  nor  must  I depart 
without  greeting  you,  nor  without  discussing  certain 
articles  1 with  you  as  a token  of  gratitude  and  remem- 
brance. If  I were  able  to  persuade  myself  that  you  would 
always  receive  the  Peripatetic  doctrines  for  truth,  I should 
1 The  word  “ article  ” was  then  synonymous  with  thesis  or  proposition. 


140 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


without  any  doubt  abstain  from  discussing  them,  for  your 
university  owes  less  to  Aristotle  than  Aristotle  owes  to 
your  university.  Then  my  labour  would  be  rash  and 
hostile,  and  my  undertaking,  which  is  prompted  by  affec- 
tion and  deference,  would  appear  wanting  in  respect. 
But  I firmly  believe  that  in  your  prudence  and  magnani- 
mity you  will  receive  my  proffer  of  service  with  kindness. 
Nay,  more,  I count  upon  your  favour,  since  philosophers 
who  are  led  by  rational  doctrine  (even  though  it  be  novel) 
ought  to  be  permitted  to  reason  philosophically,  that  is, 
with  liberty. 

“ Moreover,  if  I reason  and  do  not  convince  you,  I do  but 
confirm  you  in  your  principles,  and  therefore  I shall  have 
done  nothing  unworthy  of  this  high  assemblage.  While  if, 
as  I hope,  this  outcome  of  a new  philosophy  establishes  that 
which  posterity  can  and  must  sanction,  I shall  have  accom- 
plished a work  most  worthy  of  your  sovereign  university/’ 

In  a spirited  address,  “ Excubitor,”  next  following, 
Hennequin,  as  Bruno’s  mouthpiece,  beseeches  his  hearers 
to  bend  before  the  majesty  of  truth,  not  heeding  “the 
fire  of  his  speech  ” so  much  as  the  “ weight  of  the  reasons” 
which  he  is  enabled  to  bring  forth ; finally  entreating 
them,  as  lawful  and  unbiassed  judges,  to  accept  the 
liberation  and  power  of  the  Copernican  doctrine. 

The  points  of  difference  between  Peripateticism  and 
the  truth  are  then  advanced. 

“ The  truth,”  he  says,  “ is  new  rather  than  old.  In 
antiquity  there  is  no  belief  which  was  not  once  new.” 
Tradition  and  credulity  are  to  cede  to  reason ; and  the 
inquirer  is  to  enter  on  the  way  of  truth,  cheered  by  the 
light  of  the  rising  sun  of  philosophy.  In  conclusion, 
Bruno  is  made  by  Hennequin  to  say  that  he  withdraws 
himself  from  the  company  of  the  Peripatetics  and  from 
the  vulgar  herd  of  Sophists,  and  that  he  will  keep  a 
sequestered  state,  as  one  desiring  the  glory  of  God  rather 
than  the  kingdom  and  riches  of  this  world  (Gfr.  io). 
“ He  believes  rashly  who  believes  without  the  aid  of 


PORTRAIT  OF  BRUNO. 


141 

reason ; for  God,  who  bestowed  reason  upon  us,  designed 
us  to  use  it  in  research.” 

There  is  no  mention  in  history  of  this  disputation. 
Under  the  title  of  Camoeracensis  Acrotismus  it  was 
printed  the  same  year  in  Paris,  and  two  years  later  it 
was  again  printed  at  Wittenberg,  with  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  articles  De  Physico  Auditu,  which  were  combated 
by  Bruno’s  nominee  in  the  hall  of  the  College  of  Cambrai. 

Prom  various  sources  we  may  gather  the  appearance  of 
the  Nolan  at  this  period.  He  is  described  at  his  trial  by 
an  eye-witness,  the  librarian,  Giambattista  Ciotto  (Doc.  vi. 
p.  10),  as  “a  small  man,  thin,  with  a little  black1  beard, 
about  forty  years  old ; ” and  in  the  valedictory  oration 
which  he  pronounced  at  Wittenberg  he  speaks  of  himself 
as  “ the  plaything  of  fortune,  small  in  body  and  estate, 
hated  and  persecuted  by  the  multitude.”  But  although 
described  as  a small  man,  with  a small  man’s  weakness, 
he  speaks  of  himself  as  “ manly,  strong-limbed,  unchecked 
in  sturdy  strength,  unconquerable.” 

With  the  exception  of  an  oil-painting  at  Wolfenbiittel, 
the  only  portrait  of  Bruno  extant  is  on  the  frontispiece. 
Berti  speaks  in  melting  terms  of  the  philosopher’s  refined 
and  noble  face,  and  of  the  fire  of  phantasy  burning  in  his 
eye,  which  was  “ full  of  melancholy  and  foreboding.” 
The  description  has  been  faithfully  repeated,  though  on 
what  authority  it  would  be  hard  to  say ; and  the  portrait, 
a wretched  performance  in  point  of  art,  and  quite  with- 
out character,  was  printed  by  Wagner  (Leipsig,  1830). 
It  first  appears  in  Rixner  and  Siber’s  translation  of  the 
Cause  (Sulzbach,  1824),  and  it  was  taken  by  them  from 
a print  “ in  the  interesting  collection  of  Herr  Kreisregie- 
rungsrath  Wirthmann  in  Munich.” 

“ I am  rough-hewn,”  he  says,  “ by  Nature,”  unlearned 
in  smoothing  the  hair,  colouring  the  cheek,  crowning  the 
head  with  the  fragrant  hyacinth,  unbending  to  the  dance, 

1 At  the  same  time  and  place  the  to  be  of  middle  stature,  and  his 
prisoner  is  said  by  another  witness  beard  is  said  to  be  chestnut. 


142 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


or  tuning  harsh  accents  to  a ditty.  A man,  he  will  not 
“ stoop  to  play  the  woman  or  the  hoy,”  words  which 
recall  the  speech  of  Gloucester : — 

“ But  I,  that  am  not  shaped  for  sportive  tricks, 

Nor  made  to  court  an  amorous  looking-glass  ; 

I that  am  rudely  stamped  and  lack  love’s  majesty, 

To  strut  before  an  ambling  wanton  nymph.”1 

With  a due  sense  of  artistic  keeping,  Bruno  writes 
that  if  his  verses  have  not  the  sweetness,  delicacy,  and 
concord  of  poesy,  if  they  are  harsh  and  unpolished,  they 
may  yet  possess  a pleasing  quality.  He  is  no  imitator 
of  Yirgil,  having  no  emperor  nor  Maecenas  ; he  has  not 
adopted  the  tender  tones  of  Ovid,  for  they  are  not  suited 
to  a bearded  satyr,  such  as  he ; and  yet  he  is  charmed, 
and  even  transported  beyond  himself,  by  the  sight  of 
beauty,  though  destitute  of  it  himself.  For  his  manner 
in  working,  we  learn  from  his  pupil  Raphael  Eglin 2 that 
“ he  stood  on  one  foot,  dictating  and  thinking  as  fast  as 
the  pen  could  follow,  so  swift  was  his  mind  and  so  strong 
his  thought.”  He  appears,  moreover,  to  have  prided 
himself  on  scientific  inaccuracy  in  dress,  for  he  speaks 
in  the  Supper  of  Ashes  of  his  coat  with  several  buttons 
wanting,  and  of  his  fingers  undecked  with  gems,  while 
the  Oxford  doctors  wore  “ twelve  rings  on  two  fingers, 
and  two  chains  of  shining  gold.” 

Such  was  the  outward  appearance  of  the  man  who 
appealed  to  the  University  of  Paris  at  Pentecost  1586. 
He  was,  however,  never  destined  to  see  his  dream  accom- 
plished— his  cherished  hope  of  reconciling  religion  with  a 

1 When,  however,  Bruno  speaks  trained,  and,  becoming  involved  in 

of  being , beloved  by  the  nymphs,  the  Catholic  riots,  was  driven  out  of 
some  of  his  commentators  cry  shame  Sondrio,  and  went  from  Winterthur 
on  him,  while  others  possess  the  to  Zurich,  where  he  busied  himself 
comfortable  assurance  that  the  with  alchemy ; and  after  having 
nymphs  are  Muses.  consumed  a great  part  of  the  pro- 

2 It  was  at  Zurich  that  Raphael  perty  of  confiding  neighbours,  and 
Egli  or  Eglin  first  became  acquaint-  the  whole  of  his  own,  he  fell  into 
ed  with  Bruno.  A man  of  learning,  debt  and  was  forced  to  leave  the 
though  of  an  unruly  disposition,  he  town.  We  find  him  in  1607  profes- 
quitted  the  Evangelical  community  sor  of  theology  at  Marburg. 

in  Graubunden,  in  which  he  was 


THE  NOLAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


143 


new  and  better  era  in  philosophy.  The  chrism  of  death, 
the  sacred  flame  of  martyrdom,  were  to  make  him  the 
spiritual  ancestor  of  Descartes,  Spinoza,  and  Leibnitz  ; and 
his  labours,  though  never  destined  to  be  realised  during 
his  lifetime,  were  to  bear  precious  and  immortal  fruit 
after  his  death.  He  must  have  quitted  Paris  immediately 
after  the  disputation  (May  25,  1586,  new  style).1  Civil 
war  was  in  the  air,  and  France  offered  no  security  for 
a man  of  learning.  Moreover,  much  in  Bruno’s  nature, 
much  too  in  his  teaching,  made  his  contact  with  his 
fellow -men  difficult  and  dangerous.  The  object  of  oratory 
is  not  so  much  truth  as  persuasion ; truth  is  the  object  of 
philosophy  and  history.  It  is  hard  to  realise  that  genius 
is  subject  to  the  same  laws  of  supply  and  demand  which 
regulate  the  markets,  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  ; and  to 
fail  to  acknowledge  these  laws  is  to  fail  in  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  existence. 

A somewhat  closer  view  of  Bruno’s  philosophy  will 
show  that  it  partly  failed  to  convince  on  account  of  the 
obscure  medium  in  which  he  chose  to  envelop  his  thought. 
But  it  is  also  easy  at  the  same  time  to  prove  that  the 
effect  of  his  principles  upon  his  own  character  and  upon 
his  successors  was  such  as  could  only  have  been  produced 
by  true  and  living  springs  of  thought. 

The  art  of  Lully  bears  a resemblance  to  those  gallipots 
of  apothecaries  which  Plato  is  said  to  have  compared  to 
his  master  Socrates,  because  “ they  had  on  the  outside 
apes  and  owls  and  antiques,  but  contained  within  sove- 
reign and  precious  liquors  and  confections  ” ( Advance- 
ment of  Learning , Book  I.  iii.  8).  “ The  book  of  God, 

which  is  Nature,”  says  Baimond  Sebond,  “is  often 
more  intelligible  than  the  characters  written  in  Holy 

1 Du  Boulay  and  Crevier,  in  their  since  the  disputation  took  place  in 
several  Histories  of  the  Paris  Uni-  the  hall  of  the  College  of  Cambrai, 
versity,  maintain  that  Bruno  did  not  which  was  often  hired  by  the  public, 
fill  the  office  of  professor  extraordi-  it  is  quite  possible  that  Bruno’s  offi- 
nary.  But  they  allow  that  at  Pente-  cial  connection  with  the  university 
cost  1586  Jean  Hennequin  held  a was  then  over, 
disputation  on  theses  of  Bruno ; and, 


144 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Scriptures ; ” and  it  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  the 
clumsy  symbols  of  Lully  failed  to  expound  the  mysteries 
of  the  universe.  Bruno  looked  upon  the  words  repre- 
senting determinate  objects  as  signs  1 suited  to  our  intel- 
ligence, while  the  objects  themselves  he  considered  to  be 
forms,2  shadows  of  the  eternal  creative  ideas,  which  pro- 
ceed from  God.  Thus  what  to  the  people  was  but  the 
play  of  a strange  machine,  revealed  to  the  disciple  the 
admirable  and  symbolic  unity  of  the  universe. 

Stripped  of  its  outlandish  array  of  signs,  seals,  and 
images,  of  square  and  three-cornered  wheels,  keys,  penta- 
gons, &c.,  Bruno’s  attempt  to  describe  unity — an  attempt 
in  which  he  has  but  forestalled  many  of  his  great  succes- 
sors— becomes  less  formidable.  He  teaches  that  scientific 
research  has  its  negative  and  positive  function.  The 
first,  by  uprooting  error,  frees  the  ground  on  which  the 
new  edifice  is  to  arise  ( De  Min.,  B.  i.  c.  5);  the  second 
preparation  consists  in  an  ordered  meditation  on  all  sub- 
jects of  thought  (ib.  c.  5). 

The  first  process  is  doubt.  Let  the  attention  be  fixed 
on  reason,  on  examination,  on  comparison.  Tradition, 
fame,  antiquity,  authority,  all  are  to  be  cast  aside,  and 
the  philosopher  is  to  be  guided  by  evidence,  by  the  light 


1 ‘i  Words  are  the  images  of  cogi- 
tations, and  letters  are  the  images 
of  words.” — Advancement  of  Learn- 
ing, Book  ii. 

2 “Forms  are  the  true  object  of 

knowledge”  ( Advancement  of  Learn- 
ing, Book  II.  vii.  5).  “Every  form 
of  a thing,”  says  Hegel,  “ is  its  in- 
ward intellectual  principle,  its  pro- 
ducing cause;  but  both  are  not  dis- 
tinct, although  the  form  in  itself  is 
the  cause,  and  thus  is  a final  cause  ” 
( Philosophy  of  History,  229).  “ The 

^"Organic  living  principle,  the  princi- 
ple of  which  is  life,  the  Former,  has 
within  itself  its  own  centre  of  acti- 
vity; and  within  it  activity  remains 
and  is  preserved,  . . . while  the 
effect  is  activity,  activity  determined 
within  itself”  (ib.)  “The  Peripate- 
tic Moor  Avicebron,”  says  Bruno, 


“ holds  a doctrine  that  matter  is  a 
necessary,  eternal,  and  divine  prin- 
ciple ; for  he  called  matter,  God 
which  is  in  all  things  ; and  we  shall 
fall  into  that  error  if  we  look  for 
form  to  be  accidental,  and  a circum- 
stance of  matter,  and  if  we  do  not 
see  and  acknowledge  that  Form 
which  is  necessary,  eternal,  and  first, 
which  is  the  source  of  all  forms,  and 
which  the  Pythagoreans  call  the  life 
or  soul  of  the  world”  (W.  i.  257). 
“ Thus”  (W.  i.  22S)  “ the  whole  of 
the  Deity  is  reduced  to  one  source, 
as  the  whole  of  light  to  one  lumi- 
nous first  principle,  and  the  images 
which  are  in  diverse  and  numerous 
mirrors  (as  in  so  many  particular 
subjects),  to  one  formal  and  ideal 
principle  which  is  their  source.” 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  BRUNO. 


145 


of  truth  and  reason,  by  the  strength  of  the  doctrine,  by 
its  inner  harmony  with  itself  and  with  the  nature  of 
things.  When  all  is  duly  weighed  and  comprehended, 
the  philosopher’s  judgment  may  be  formed.  “Evidence, 
the  clear  and  distinct  perception  of  that  which  in  itself 
is  manifest,  reason,  and  sense,”  he  writes  in  his  letter  to 
the  Rector  of  the  Paris  University,  “ these  are  to  deter- 
mine the  mind  of  the  thinker.  . . . Let  these  be  our  arms 
against  the  foolishness  of  the  crowd,  who  shut  their  eyes 
upon  the  evidence  of  their  senses.  Let  us  begin  by 
doubt.  Let  us  doubt  so  long  as  time  leaves  us  a diffi- 
culty to  solve ; let  us  doubt  till  we  know  all ; let  us 
doubt  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  plead  our  own  cause 
with  freedom  and  sincerity.”  “ The  inward  light  of  know- 
ledge and  of  the  conscience,  our  own  thought,  our  indi- 
vidual reflection,  our  human  common  sense,  is  not  in 
contradiction  with  the  voice  of  GocL  The  truth  is  to 
be  sought  out  in  every  aspect  and  with  all  solicitude ; 
only  a sordid  soul  follows  the  crowd  because  it  is  great ; 
and  it  is  more  noble  to  obtain  glory  without  empire  than 
empire  without  glory. 

“ The  sage  must  not  expect  to  overcome  all  things  at 
once.  He  must  sow  his  seed  and  await  the  harvest,  as  in 
the  course  of  nature  and  the  seasons  the  grain  of  this 
world  ripens  and  the  wheat  yields  its  increase.  So  with 
history.  Aristotle  was  the  forerunner  of  Plato ; and 
Aristotle  himself,  if  he  were  present,  would  counsel  us  to 
be  followers  of  Nature.  . . . Above  all,  let  us  be  care- 
ful not  to  think  that  we  know.  . . . Time  and  fortune 
overcome  all  things ; slaves  descend  from  the  kings  of 
antiquity,  and  kings  have  counted  slaves  among  their 
ancestors.  So  the  truth,  if  it  is  to  endure,  must  show 
itself  in  conformity  with  the  will  of  a beneficent  God  and 
with  the  laws  of  Nature.” 

“ Passing,”  says  Berti,  “ rapidly  from  the  particular 
to  the  general,  Bruno  rose  by  means  of  the  intricate 
labyrinths  of  the  art  of  memory  to  the  shining  heights 

K 


146 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


of  metaphysics  and  astronomy.”  To  “ rise  by  means  of 
an  intricate  labyrinth  ” is  a proceeding  of  some  diffi- 
culty, unless  it  were  by  a flying  labyrinth  or  castle  in 
the  air.  We  recall  the  criticism  of  Dr.  Johnson  on 
Cibber : “ Why,  sir,  in  one  of  his  couplets  he  makes  a 
linnet  soar  on  an  eagle’s  wing.” 

Bruno  looked  to  the  mystical  arithmetic  of  Lully  as  a 
means  of  expounding  the  secrets  of  Nature,  but  not  as  a 
means  of  discovering  them.  They  were  attained  by  that 
faculty  of  induction  which  calls  into  action  the  highest 
qualities  of  the  human  soul,  and,  when  rightly  used,  leads 
the  student,  by  intuition  and  by  the  proper  exercise  of 
the  imagination,  to  enter  into  the  profoundest  mysteries 
of  Nature.  “ He  seems,”  says  Professor  Carriere,1  “ to 
have  reached  his  conclusions  by  means  of  intuition  and 
induction,  for  his  mathematics  are  insignificant ; and  when 
approaching  figures  and  geometric  formulas,  he  is  so  little 
able  to  bridle  his  imagination  that  he  continually  falls 
into  a mystic  symbolism.” 

The  same  has  been  said  by  Libri  ( Histoire  des  Sciences 
Matlidmatiques  en  Italie,  vol.  iv.  p.  145,  note).  “Bruno,” 
says  Libri,  “ seems  a priori  to  have  embraced  the  Coper- 
nican  system  by  a species  of  intuition,  being  no  mathe- 
matician whatever  : his  works  contain  the  most  singular 
errors  in  geometry.  Take,  for  example,  what  he  says  in 
the  Cena  delle  Ceneri  on  the  manner  in  which  a luminous 
body  gives  light  to  other  bodies.”  But  by  imagination, 
that  golden  quality  which  realises  conceptions  beyond  the 
scope  of  the  senses,  Bruno  attained  many  valuable  con- 
' elusions.  “ Coleridge,”  says  Lewes,  “ used  to  say  that  ima- 
I gination  was  the  greatest  faculty  of  the  philosopher ; ” 

< and  the  German  critic  Hillebrand  was  told  by  Leibnitz 
( himself  “ that  all  his  discoveries  had  been  the  result  of 
I lightning-like  intuition  and  divination,2  ascertained  after- 

1 Die  Philosophische  Weltanscliau-  gart  unci  Tubingen,  1847.  Art. 
vng  der  Rcformationszeit  in  ihren  “ Bruno,”  p.  381. 

Beziehnugen  zur  Geyenwart.  Stutt-  2 “It  is,”  says  Fuller,  speaking 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  BRUNO. 


147 


wards  by  observation  and  experiment.”  Again,  “ Physical  j 
investigation,  more  than  anything  besides,”  says  Sir  Ben- 
jamin Brodie,  in  his  address  to  the  Royal  Society  (Nov.i 
30,  1859),  “helps  to  teach  us  the  actual  value  and  right 
of  the  imagination — of  that  wondrous  faculty  which,  left 
to  ramble  uncontrolled,  leads  us  astray  into  a wilderness 
of  perplexities  and  errors,  a land  of  mists  and  shadows, 
but  which,  properly  controlled  by  experience  and  reflec- 
tion, becomes  the  noblest  attribute  of  man,  the  source  of 
poetic  genius,  the  instrument  of  discovery  in  science, 
without  the  aid  of  which  Newton  would  never  have  in- 
vented fluxions  nor  Davy  have  composed  the  earths  and 
alkalies,  nor  would  Columbus  have  found  another  con- 
tinent.” 

With  the  instruments  at  his  command,  the  results 
attained  by  Bruno  were  marvellous.  In  his  system  of 
induction  he  forestalled  Bacon,  who  said  (Nov.  Or.  117), 
“ Our  course  aud  method  is,  . . . in  our  capacity  of  legi- 
timate interpreters  of  Nature,  to  deduce  causes  and  axioms 
from  effects  and  experiments,  and  new  effects  and  expe- 
riments from  those  causes  and  axioms.”  By  what  he 
called  “ industry  of  experiment,”  Bacon  sought  in  the 
means  closest  to  his  hand  for  truth  profitable  to  man. 
Application,  not  speculation,  was  his  aim  in  life.  His 
philosophy  was  but  a machine  to  aid  the  mind  in  accom- 
plishing what  had  hitherto  overtasked  its  power  ; and  if 
he  desired  to  discover  the  springs  of  action  and  the 
hidden  forces  of  Nature,  it  was  that  he  might  extend  the 
usefulness  of  man  rather  than  his  knowledge.  “ Philo- 
sophy,” says  Bruno  (W.  ii.  339),  in  a less  utilitarian 

of  the  fancy  in  a more  poetic  vein,  charges,  fights  ■without  bloodshed  ; 
“the  most  boundless  and  restless  in  a moment  striding  from  the 
faculty  of  the  soul ; for  while  the  centre  to  the  circumference  of  the 
understanding  and  will  are  kept,  as  world  ; by  a kind  of  omnipotency 
it  were,  in  libera  custodia,  to  their  creating  and  annihilating  things  in 
objects  of  rerum  et  bonum,  the  fancy  an  instant ; and  things  divorced  in 
is  free  from  all  engagements ; it  digs  1ST ature  are  married  in  fancy  as  in  a 
without  spade,  sails  without  ships,  lawless  place.” 
flies  without  wings,  builds  without 


MS 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


spirit,  “ rises  on  the  wing  of  the  intellect  towards  the 
Divinity."  “ We  must  not  add  wings,”  says  Lord  Bacon 
{Nov.  Or.  1 04),  “ but  rather  lead  and  ballast  to  the 
understanding,  to  prevent  its  jumping  or  flying;”  although 
he  grants  that  “ many  great  discoveries  are  made  not  by 
reason,  but  by  chance  and  opportunity.”  Much,  how- 
ever, that  the  great  Verulam  accepted  without  a question, 
or  did  not  care  to  consider,  was  upheld  by  Bruno  at  the 
cost  of  his  life.  Bacon  was  content  to  make  over  to 
those  ££  few  astronomers,  carmen  who  drive  the  earth 
about  ” ( In  Praise  of  Knowledge),  the  task  of  accommodat- 
ing the  peculiarity  of  the  heavens ; 1 while  with  Bruno, 
to  seek  out  the  truth  in  all  things  was  a matter  of  life 
and  death.  He  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  visible 
universe  beyond  Aristotle,  beyond  Copernicus ; not  by 
such  calculations  as  were  open  to  the  astronomers  of  that 
day,  but  by  means  of  intuition  and  induction,  and  by 
advocating  the  true  interrogation  of  Nature,  which  is 
observation  and  experiment. 

“ The  speculation  of  scholars,”  he  says  ( Shadows  of 
Ideas , Intentio  xviii.),  “ proceed  correctly  if  they  advance 
from  the  physical  shadow  to  the  ideal  shadow  correspond- 
ing with  it.”  ££  By  induction  we  are  made  rich  in  spirit  ” 
(Gfr.  737).  ££  If  the  road  of  investigation  is  open,  in 

order  to  attain  the  truth  it  is  only  necessary  to  hold  fast 
by  Nature”  (J)c  Immenso,  Book  ii.  chap.  x.  p.  605)- 
<£  He  who  impedes  Nature  in  her  course  is  impious  and 
insane”2  ( ib . Book  i.  chap.  ix.  p.  26—28).  We  are 
to  comprehend  inner  things  by  what  is  outward,  and 
high  things  by  means  of  the  lower  creation.  ££  For 
all  things  are  so  created  that  they  correspond  the  one 
with  the  other.  For  since  all  things  were  ordained  not 
by  chance,  but  by  a determining  spirit,  it  follows  that  a 

1 “ The  same  phenomena  in  astro-  vancement  of  Learning,  Book  ii. 
nomy  are  satisfied  by  the  received  viii.  5). 

astronomy,  . . and  by  the  theory  of  2 “Nature,”  says  Lord  Bacon 
Copernicus  . . . the  calculations  are  [Nov.  Or.  115),  “is  only  to  be  com- 
indifl'erenthj  agreeable  to  both  ” (d.rf-  manded  by  obeying  her.” 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  BRUNO. 


149 


soul  filled  with  contemplation  and  speculation  can,  by 
means  of  that  which  is  in  the  outward  appearance,  divine 
inner  things”  (Gfr.  304).  He  repeats  constantly  that 
Nature  and  the  sense  within  us  will  lead  us  to  the  truth. 
“ The  truth,  like  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  within  us  ” (W. 
ii.  12),  “ It  is  in  the  object  of  the  senses  as  in  a 
mirror ; in  the  reason,  by  the  means  of  argument  and 
discourse ; in  the  intellect,  by  the  means  of  principle  and 
conclusion ; but  in  the  mind  there  is  the  essential  and 
living  form  of  truth”  (W.  ii.  18).  “The  senses  them- 
selves are  useful  to  excite  the  reason,  to  indicate,  to 
testify;  in  part,  but  not  altogether”  (ib.  18).  “When  I 
was  a boy,”  he  writes  ( De,  Immenso,  Book.  ii.  chap.  viii. 
p.  232),  “I  believed  that  beyond  Vesuvius  there  was 
nothing,  and  at  that  time  I understood  nothing  except 
through  my  senses.”  “ The  senses  do  not  deceive  us,”  he 
says  again  ; “ they  do  not  tell  us  what  is  not  true,  but 
they  do  not  tell  us  the  whole  truth.  We  do  not  see  the 
effects  and  true  species  of  things,  or  the  substance  of  ideas, 
but  their  shadows,  traces,  and  similitude”  (W.  ii.  426). 

“ In  the  things  of  Nature,  Cause  and  Principle  are 
divided  ; but  in  God,  Cause  and  Principle  are  one.  Thus 
the  reason  rises  to  God  by  means  of  Nature  ” (W.  i. 
234—239).  “There  is  nothing  in  Nature  without  Provi- 
dence and  without  a final  Cause”  (W.  i.  1 90). 

Such  was  the  labour  of  the  great  Italian.  Passing 
by  the  ways  of  Induction  and  Imagination,  he  came  to 
Immanence,  and  to  that  reconciliation  of  Immanence 
and  Transcendence  which  is  his  most  signal  service 
to  philosophy.  “ For  though,”  Enfield  writes  in  his 
History  of  Philosophy , “ he  acknowledges  only  one  sub- 
stance in  Nature,  yet  it  appears  from  many  passages  in 
his  writings  to  have  been  his  opinion  that  all  things 
have  from  eternity  flowed  from  one  immense  and  infinite 
fountain,  an  emanative  principle  essential  to  the  Divine 
nature.  From  this  source  he  derives  his  minima,  or 
atoms,  of  which  the  visible  world  is  formed.  To  these 


150 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


he  ascribes  perception,  life,  and  motion.  Besides  these, 
he  supposes  a distinct  principle  of  combination  and  union, 
or  a soul  of  the  world,  derived  from  the  same  fountain, 
by  which  the  forms  of  Nature  are  produced  and  pre- 
served. This  intermediate  agent,  which  connects  all  the 
other  emanations  from  the  eternal  fountain,  is,  in  the 
system  of  Bruno,  Nature,  by  means  of  which,  out  of  in- 
finite emanations  from  the  eternal  fountain,  infinite  and 
eternal  worlds  are  produced ; whilst  in  truth  only  one 
being  exists  which  is  infinite,  immutable,  indivisible, 
good  — the  uncreated  light  which  pervades  all  space, 
and  which  has  within  itself  one  substantial  form  of  all 
things.” 

Again,  writing  of  the  “ sparks  of  truth  ” shining  in 
Bruno’s  pages,  he  adds,  “ Some  of  his  original  concep- 
tions are  . . . luminous  and  satisfactory,  and  nearly 
coincide  with  the  principles  of  philosophy  of  Descartes, 
Leibnitz,  and  others.” 

Scarcely  heeding  that  bracing  of  the  will  to  re- 
peated undeviating  action,  which,  though  it  may  not  be 
genius,  is  capable  of  producing  a masterpiece,  the  Nolan 
aspired  to  be  a “ philosopher,  which  is  the  most  honour- 
able title  a man  can  possess”  (W.  ii.  233),  and  to 
assail  “ the  impregnable  walls  of  true  philosophy  ” (ib. 
241).  “Philosophy,”  says  Lord  Bacon  [Nov.  Or.  57),  “is 
the  great  mother  of  the  sciences  ; ” 1 and  the  result  of 
Bruno’s  application,  or  more  properly  of  his  insight,  led 
him  to  foreshadow  many  modern  discoveries.  “ Every 
part  of  creation  has  its  share  in  being  and  in  cognition  ” 
(Summa  Ter.  508).  This  is  a direct  consequence  of  the 
immanence 2 of  God.  “ Intellect  and  the  powers  of 

1 Hazlitt,  when  he  says  “How  2 “ Thinking  is  not  to  be  severed 
little  has  the  human  understanding  from  what  is  thought,  nor  will  from 
been  directed  to  find  out  the  true  movement”  (Plato)  ; “lor  mind  is 
and  useful!  how  much  ingenuity  nothing  else  but  Nature  come  to  the 
has  been  thrown  away  in  the  de-  consciousness  of  itself : its  essence 
fence  of  creeds  and  systems,”  being  the  essence  of  Nature,  its  con- 
repeats  Bacon’s  magnificent  open-  tents  the  contents  of  Nature  ” (Karl 
ing  of  the  Novum  Onjanum.  Iiillebrand). 


THEORY  OF  INSTINCT. 


I5i 

thought  are  not  in  place,  but  as  the  form  is  in  the  sub- 
ject. The  intellect,  which  is  the  universal  substance  and 
the  cause  of  all  knowledge  in  all  things  and  in  each 
thing,  is  the  one  substance  or  essence  of  the  whole,  as  the 
soul  is  in  the  body”  ( Summa  Ter.  513).  “ There  is  a 

difference,  not  in  quality  but  in  quantity,  between  the 
soul  of  man,  the  animal,  and  the  plant  ” (W.  ii.  2 77). 

“ Among  horses,  elephants,  and  dogs  there  are  single 
individuals  which  appear  to  have  almost  the  understand- 
ing of  men”  (I)e  Immenso,  Book  iv.  chap.  ii.  p.  404). 

“With  what  understanding  the  ant  gnaws  her  grain 
of  wheat,  lest  it  should  sprout  in  her  underground  habi- 
tations ! The  fool  says  this  is  instinct,  but  we  say  it  is 
a species  of  understanding”  ( Summa  Ter.  509).  Aud 
when  stones  display  their  marvellous  properties,  contract- 
ing, expanding,  attracting,  the  crowd  of  ignorant  Sophists 
declare  this  is  instinct.” 

The  transition  from  this  point  to  the  Darwinian  theory 
of  development  is  not  difficult.  “ No  body  is  to-day  the 
same  as  yesterday  ” {Be  Trip.  Min.)  “ All  things,  even 
the  smallest,  have  their  share  in  the  universal  intelli- 
gence. We  do  not  doubt  that  there  is  a soul  within  all 
things,  and  with  the  soul  the  intelligence  or  universal 
thinking  power  ” {Summa  Ter.  499). 

“ For  without  a certain  degree  of  sense  or  cognition 
the  drop  of  water  could  not  assume  the  spherical  shape 
which  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  its  forces.  All 
things  participate  in  the  universal  intelligence,  and  hence 
come  attraction  and  repulsion,  love  and  hate  ” (ib.  496).  I 
“ Nature  shows  forth  each  species  before  they  enter  into 
life.  Thus  each  species  is  the  starting-point  for  the  l 
next”  (Gfr.  309). 

After  this  rapid  glance  at  the  peculiar  means  employed 
by  Bruno,  together  with  the  results  obtained  by  him, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  consider  next  the  effects  of  his 


1 This  subject  is  amplified  in  the  Cabal  of  the  Horse  Pegasus. 


152 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


philosophy  on  his  mind.  It  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  extracts  : — 

“ From  my  youth  up  I was  exposed  to  the  slights  of 
fortune,  but  notwithstanding,  I am  firm  and  constant  in 
my  course,  and  to  this  God  is  my  witness.  And  I am 
either  not  so  unfortunate  as  I think,  or  in  submitting  to 
my  misfortunes  I despise  them  ; for  death  itself  does  not 
terrify  me,  and  the  greatness  of  my  soul  is  such  that 
all  things  mortal  are  in  subjection  to  it  ” 1 (He  Immenso, 
Book  i.  ch.  i.  p.  3). 

“ For  those  men  most  fear  death  and  most  desire  to 
live  who  have  not  the  light  of  true  philosophy,  who  con- 
sider no  other  than  their  present  being,  and  who  think 
that  nothing  can  happen  but  to  them,  because  they  have 
not  attained  the  knowledge  that  the  principle  of  life  is 
not  in  the  properties  which  result  from  the  composition, 
but  in  individual  and  indissoluble  substance  ” (W.  ii.  76). 

“ The  body  is  a composition  and  congregation  of  in- 
numerable properties  and  individuals”  (W.  ii.  208).“ 

“Being  present  with  the  body  ” ( Wagner , ii.  387), 
“ he  (the  sage)  is  yet,  as  by  an  indissoluble  oath,  bound 
and  united  to  divine  things,  so  that  he  is  not  sensible 
either  of  love  or  hatred  for  mortal  things,  knowing  he  is 
greater  than  these,  and  that  he  must  not  be  the  servant 
and  slave  of  his  body,  which  is  to  be  regarded  as  no 
other  than  the  prison  of  his  liberty,  a snare  for  his  wings, 
a chain  upon  his  limbs,  and  a veil  impeding  his  sight. 
Let  him  not,  therefore,  be  a slave,  nor  evil,  nor  in  chains, 
nor  idle,  nor  blind,  nor  imprisoned.  For  the  body  has 
no  power  over  him ; it  waits  on  his  consent,  seeing  that 

1 In  another  place — is  an  unusual  tendency  to  unite  in 

“Persentire  datur  paucis  quam  vivere  multiples.” — II.  Spencer,  Principles 

nostrum  hoc  of  Biology,  vol.  i.  23.  Cicero,  in  his 

S't  perune,  mon  hoc  sit  Ter*  adsurgere  Rj  q/  writes  as  folIows  . 

Life  is  but  a manner  of  death,  death  — “ They  aliv®w,ho  have  escaped 
a true  birth,  an  awakening  to  true  from  the  fetters  of  the  body  as  from 
life  a prison  ; that  which  is  called  your 

2 “Among  those  elements  out  of  life  is  really  death.” 
which  living  bodies  are  built,  there 


CHARACTER  OF  BRUNO. 


153 


the  spirit  is  above  the  body  in  such  proportion  as  the 
corporeal  and  material  world  is  subject  to  the  Divinity 
and  to  Nature.  Thus  he  will  be  strong  against  fortune, 
magnanimous  in  injury,  undaunted  in  poverty,  sickness, 
and  persecution.” 

Even  more  in  his  life  than  in  his  works  Bruno  showed 
that  it  behoves  a philosopher  not  to  attach  himself  to 
earth.  He  desires  “ that  he  may  not  shrink  when  con- 
fronted by  death”  (W.  ii.  238),  and  “that  he  may  be 
strengthened  against  the  onslaughts  of  fortune.”  The 
hare  is  called  by  him  “ the  type  of  fear,  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  death  ; ” and  he  prays  to  be  delivered  from  “ the 
blind  tremors  of  death  ” ( ib . 241).  “ Death,”  he  writes,  in 

emulation  of  the  Latin  poet,  ££  is  less  horrible  than  the 
fear  of  death”  (W.  i.  40 1).1  Again,  in  the  Heroic  Rap- 
ture (W.  i.  313)  he  pours  out  his  soul  in  the  entreaty 
that  his  death  may  be  changed  to  life,  the  cypress  into 
laurel,  hell  to  heaven,  and  his  mortality  to  immortality. 

A striking  presentiment,  which  did  not  fall  short  of 
prophecy,2  underlies  his  writings.  “ If  it  should  come 
to  pass,”  he  wrote  (W.  i.  199),  “that  the  Nolan  is  car- 
ried to  his  grave  in  a Catholic  country,  even  if  it  be 
broad  day,  he  will  be  accompanied  by  fifty,  nay,  by 
a hundred  torches.”  (££  The  spirit  of  man,”  says  the 
Preacher,  ££  is  the  candle  of  the  Lord.”)  Again,  in  a 
sonnet  addressed  to  his  own  soul,  he  writes,  “ Touch 
me,  0 God,  and  I shall  be  as  it  were  a flame  of  fire,” — 
words  repeated  and  perfected  by  Shakespeare  : 

“ Heaven  doth  with  us  as  we  with  torches  do, 

Not  light  them  for  ourselves.” 

When,  too,  towards  the  spring  of  1591,  Bruno  set  off 
for  his  native  land,  driven  by  some  unaccountable  im- 
pulse to  meet  the  death  which,  in  his  own  words,  should 

1 “Fear  is  more  pain  than  is  the  Melancholy  foretold  the  day  and  hour 

pain  it  fears.” — Sonnet,  Sir  Philip  of  his  death,  and  was  said  to  have 
Sidney.  taken  pains  to  fulfil  the  predic- 

2 The  author  of  the  Anatomy  of  tion. 


154 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


make  him  live  for  all  time  (W.  ii.  316),  these  words 
occur,  among  the  last  lines  written  by  him  in  Germany : 
“ The  wise  man  fears  not  death  ; yea,  there  may  be  times 
when  he  seeks  death,  or  at  least  goes  peacefully  forth 
to  meet  his  end.” 

“ To  talk  of  Nature  and  a man’s  soul,”  says  Goethe, 
“ is  not  for  Christians  ; therefore  men  burn  atheists,  such 
discourses  being  highly  dangerous.”  Persecution,  “ that 
rarest  argument  of  wonder,”  embittered  the  life  of  Bruno, 
but  the  succession  of  time  will  reinstate  his  memory. 

“It  is  a plain  proceeding,”  says  Edgar  Quinet,  “ to 
calculate  problems  and  to  solve  equations,  but  to  apply 
them  justly,  and  to  understand  their  due  relations  to 
each  other  and  to  the  world,  demands  intuition  and  in- 
spiration. The  pure  and  incorruptible  formulae  which 
were  before  the  world  was,  which  are  above  time  and 
space,  and  which  are,  as  it  were,  an  integral  part 1 of  God, 
those  sacred  formulae  which  will  survive  the  ruin  of  the 
universe,  place  the  true  mathematician  in  communion 
with  the  very  spirit  of  God.  Science  is  Christian  when 
it  discovers  in  the  infinitely  little  as  much  power  and 
mystery  as  in  the  infinitely  great.  Science  is  pious  when 
it  recognises  miracles  in  all  things,  for  it  then  beholds 
itself  enveloped  by  revelation.  It  is  universal  when  it 
subjects  every  world  and  every  truth  to  one  law  and  to 
one  unity.  It  is  Catholic  when  it  conforms  to  that  living 
and  immutable  orthodoxy  proclaimed  in  the  great  council 
of  creation,  in  the  church  of  the  worlds,  that  sacred  geo- 
metry and  sublime  mathematics  which  are  unswerving 
in  their  course,  for  they  are  written  in  the  very  thought 
of  the  Creator.” 

Such  was  the  piety  of  Bruno  ; and  it  was  to  that 
“ living  and  immutable  orthodoxy,”  and  to  the  laws  written 
in  the  hand  of  the  Creator  on  the  face  of  the  universe,  that 

1 A parallel  passage  occurs  in  ginning  of  tilings  co-eternal,  God 
Kepler’s  Harmonices  Mundi  (bk.  iv.  Himself.” 
p.  1 19):  “Geometry,  before  the  be- 


VIRTUE  OF  MATHEMATICS. 


155 

lie  proclaimed  his  submission.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  the  same  feeling  has  actuated  many  men  of  science. 

“ The  work  of  the  intellect,”  says  Humboldt,  “ shows 
itself  in  its  most  exalted  grandeur  where,  instead  of  re- 
quiring the  aid  of  outward  material  means,  it  receives  its 
light  exclusively  from  the  pure  abstraction  of  the  mathe- 
matical development  of  thought.  There  dwells  a power- 
ful virtue,  deeply  felt  and  acknowledged  in  all  antiquity, 
in  the  contemplation  of  mathematical  truths ; in  the 
eternal  relations  of  time  and  space  as  they  disclose  them- 
selves in  harmonics,  number,  and  lines.” 

The  remarkable  manner  in  which  Linnaeus, — he  is  called 
by  Edgar  Quinet  “ the  smallest  of  the  great  discoverers,’’ 
— speaks  of  his  vision  of  God  was  probably  suggested  by 
the  history  of  Moses  on  the  Mount.  The  Patriarch,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  covered  by  the  hand  of  God  in  a 
cleft  of  the  rock,  and  he  saw  “ the  back  parts  of  God.” 
Linnaeus  writes  the  following  : “ I have  seen  pass  before 
me  the  back  parts  of  the  almighty,  all-knowing,  and 
ever-living  God,  and  I stood  in  awe  of  him.”  The  words 
of  Kant,  “ Two  things  fill  me  with  wonder — the  starry 
heavens  and  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility  in  man,” 
are  thus  noted  by  Professor  Tyndall : “And  in  his  hours 
of  health  and  strength  and  sanity,  when  the  stroke  of 
action  has  ceased  and  the  pause  of  reflection  has  set  in, 
the  scientific  investigator  finds  himself  overshadowed  by 
the  same  awe.  Breaking  contact  with  the  hampering  de- 
tails of  earth,  it  associates  him  with  a power  which  gives 
fulness  and  love  to  his  existence,  but  which  he  can 
neither  analyse  nor  comprehend  ” (Tyndall,  Fragments  of 
Science , 335). 

But  it  is,  perhaps,  in  considering  the  influence  of 
Bruno’s  philosophy  on  others  that  its  value  becomes  most 
apparent.1 

1 The  relation  of  Bruno’s  philo-  treated  by  M.  Carriere.  Bruno’s 
sopliy  to  Descartes,  Leibnitz,  Kant,  services  to  Descartes  and  Leibnitz 
and  Hegel  has  been  exhaustively  have  also  been  carefully  pointed  out 


ij6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Evidence  as  the  criterium  of  truth,  doubt  as  the 
initiation  of  the  truth — -these  were  his  legacy  to  Des- 
cartes. He  bequeathed  to  Spinoza  the  idea  of  an 
immanent  God  and  the  distinction  between  active  and 
passive  Nature.  To  Leibnitz  he  gave  the  germ  of  the 
theory  of  monads  and  the  theory  of  optimism.  More- 
over, with  regard  to  the  mathematical  and  physical 
sciences,  the  theories  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
planets,  the  orbits  of  the  comets,  the  imperfect  sphericity 
of  the  earth,  and  the  first  idea  of  the  vortex  are  due  to 
him  ; and  the  boldest  thinkers  of  our  time  owe  to  him 
the  principle  of  the  absolute  identity  of  the  subjective  and 
the  objective,  the  ideal  and  the  real,  the  thought  and  the 
thing. 

Many  writers  claim  1 for  Bruno  the  high  distinction  of 
having  modified  all  the  modern  sources  of  philosophic 
thought.  Even  Tiraboschi,  who  professes  himself  unable 
to  comprehend  Bruno’s  philosophy,  is  willing  to  grant  the 
extent  of  his  influence  on  later  thinkers.  “ If,”  says  this 
writer  (vol.  vii.  p.  472),  “Bruno  had  taken  the  pains 
to  regulate  his  fancy  and  his  foolish  ambition,  which 
taught  him  to  oppose  every  idea  that  was  not  his  own, 
he  might  have  ranked  among  the  most  illustrioirs  phi- 
losophers. Any  one  with  patience  to  examine  his 
work  may  discover  he  has  the  germs  of  opinions  which, 
when  adopted  by  Cartesius,  Leibnitz,  and  other  modern 
thinkers,  were  received  with  applause,  and  were  at  least 
for  some  time  followed  by  many.  Brucker,  citing  authors 
who  have  reasoned  on  such  points  at  length,  demonstrates 
that  the  vortices  of  Cartesius,  and  the  system  of  globes 
revolving  on  their  own  axis,  together  with  the  pi'inciple 
of  universal  doubt,  are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of 

by  Bartholm&ss.  The  indebtedness  Mensclien  und  dessen  GluclcseliglceU. 
of  Spinoza  is  described  with  great  Gotha,  1866. 

minuteness  in  a small  treatise  by  1 See  Lasson.  Steffens,  Ueber  das 
Professor  Sigwart  : — Spinoza’s  Neu-  Leben  des  Jordanus  Brunus.  Berlin, 
entdeclder  Tractat  von  Gott,  dem  1846,  pp.  43, 75.  Revue  de  Bruxelles, 

Altmeyer,  January,  March  1840. 


INFLUENCE  ON  DESCARTES. 


IS  7 


Bruno,  which,  contain,  moreover,  the  atoms  of  Gassendi 
and  the  optimism  of  Leibnitz.  . . . But  I challenge,” 
Tiraboschi  continues,  with  some  temper,  “ the  most  acute 
intelligence  to  comprehend  his  system,  or  the  most  patient 
of  men  to  tolerate  his  books.” 

Unlike  the  philosophy  of  Condillac,  which  is  happily 
said  by  Victor  Cousin  “ to  mutilate  the  human  mind  in 
order  to  explain  it  more  easily,”  Descartes  taught  that 
“to  know  is  to  be,”  and  held  with  Bruno  the  effective 
action  of  our  doubt  and  ignorance.1  Doubt  in  thought 
is  an  act  of  thought ; and  the  achievement  of  Bruno  in 
thus  defining  the  use  in  philosophy  of  doubt  and  igno- 
rance was,  says  Professor  Carriere,  “ a declaration  in  philo- 
sophic consciousness  such  as  that  of  Luther  in  religion : 
‘ God  is  almighty  ; but  he  who  has  faith  is  a god.’  ” 

From  the  dualism  into  which  Descartes  soon  fell 
Bruno  was  preserved  by  the  poetic  spirit  with  which  he 
was  inspired  ; but  the  dry  precision  of  the  art  of  Lully 
possessed  no  charms  for  the  philosopher  of  method.  “ I 
had  laboured  somewhat,”  Descartes  writes,  “ upon  the  other 
branches  of  philosophy,  such  as  the  art  of  Lully,  which  is 
compounded  from  syllogisms  more  proper  to  encourage  idle 
talk  upon  things  which  we  ignore  than  to  aid  learning.”  2 


1 “ The  wisest  among  you,”  says 
Plato  in  his  Apology,  “ is  he  who 
recognises,  with  Socrates,  that  his 
wisdom  is  nothing.”  And  what  is 
this  but  the  becoming  a little  child 
in  order  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ? “ Before  all  things,”  says 

Bruno,  “ keep  us  from  ignoring  our 
own  ignorance.”  True  ignorance  is 
said  by  Bruno  to  be , as  it  were,  a gate 
(W.  ii.  271)  to  the  apprehension 
of  truth  ; “ since  wisdom  without 
ignorance  cannot  apprehend  the 
truth,  . . . and  thus  wisdom  dis- 
covers the  truth  by  the  road,  the 
gate-keeper,  and  the  gate  of  ignor- 
ance.” This  is  one  of  the  contra- 
dictions in  which  Bruno  delighted. 
Negative  ignorance  in  a mind  re- 
flecting upon  itself  is,  however,  not 
to  be  confounded  with  the  positive 


ignorance  of  blindness.  “ Ignorance 
and  arrogance,”  Bruno  writes  (W. 
i.  175),  “are  twin  sisters;”  and, 
again  (W.  i.  131),  he  writes  of  “rash 
and  foolish  ignorance,  with  pre- 
sumption and  discourtesy,  which  are 
her  faithful  companions.”  This  was 
the  ignorance  which  Montaigne 
desired  to  quell  when  he  wrote, 
“All  wisdom  is  folly  that  does  not 
accommodate  itself  to  the  common 
ignorance.” 

2 Although  Descartes  describes 
his  Meditations  as  a book  contain- 
ing “ demonstrations  of  the  exist- 
ence of  God  and  the  distinction  of 
the  soul  from  the  body,”  he  treats 
a number  of  other  subjects,  such  as 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the 
theory  of  animals,  instinct,  &c. 
With  a certain  sense  of  humour  he 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


158 

In  liis  theory  of  instinct,  moreover,  as  inherited  habit, 
Bruno  shows  himself  to  be  far  in  advance  of  the  automatic 
theory  of  Descartes.  “Because  a clock  marks  time  and  a 
bee  makes  honey,”  says  Descartes,  “we  are  to  consider  the 
clock  and  the  bee  to  be  machines.  Because  they  do  one 
thing  better  than  man,  and  no  other  thing  so  well  as  man, 
we  are  to  conclude  that  they  have  no  mind,  but  that  Nature 
acts  within  them,  holding  their  organs  at  her  disposal.” 
“ Nor  are  we  to  think,  as  the  ancients  do,  that  animals 
speak,  though  we  do  not  know  their  language  ” ( Discours 
sur  la  Mdthode , sect,  v.)  ; “ for,  if  that  were  so,  they, 
having  several  organs  related  to  ours,  might  as  easily 
communicate  with  us  as  with  each  other.”  How  would 
the  reverse  of  this  axiom  read  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  animals  ? “ We  must  not  think  that  men  speak, 

though  we  do  not  know  their  language.  For  if  this 
were  so,  since  they  have  several  organs  related  to  ours, 
they  might  as  easily  communicate  with  us  as  with  each 
other.” 

It  remains  to  indicate  in  a few  words  the  influence  of 
Bruno  on  Spinoza,  “the  Cartesian  of  the  Kabbalah,”  as 
he  was  called  by  Kant  in  a letter  to  Moses  Mendelssohn. 
While  Leibnitz  resolves  the  material  world  into  unex- 
tended monads,  Spinoza,  truer  to  his  great  forerunner, 
unfolds  the  divine  system  in  a geometric  procession,  and, 
though  he  does  not  own  how  far  he  is  beholden  to 
Bruno,  a close  connection  in  the  system  of  the  two 
philosophers  has  been  pointed  out  by  Professor  Sigwart 
of  Tubingen. 

The  most  important  of  Bruno’s  writings,  and  those 
nearest  allied  to  the  philosophy  of  Spinoza,  are  the  dia- 
logues of  the  Cause,  of  Infinity , and  of  Heroic  Rapture. 
Spinoza  was  known  by  his  biographer  Boulainvilliers  to 
be  well  versed  in  Italian.  The  works  of  Bruno  were  read 

begins  tlie  sixth  part  of  his  discourse  published  it  notwithstanding,  for 
upon  Method  by  announcing  that  he  remarks  that  it  will  be  found  in 
he  had  found  it  advisable  to  abstain  substance  in  the  pages  he  has  just 
from  publishing  a certain  treatise  completed, 
from  fear  of  the  Jesuits,  and  yet  he 


INFLUENCE  ON  SPINOZA. 


159 


in  Paris  at  that  time,  among  others,  by  Pere  Mersenne 
and  by  Huet,  the  opponent  of  Descartes ; and  they  must 
have  passed  into  Holland,  for  England  was  closely  con- 
nected with  that  country.  The  Heroic  Eapture,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  dedicated  to  Philip  Sidney,  who  fell  at 
the  head  of  the  English  auxiliaries  in  defending  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Netherlands. 

Spinoza,  in  common  with  Bacon,  Leibnitz,  and  many 
other  writers,  was  not  accustomed  to  name  the  philoso- 
phers from  whom  he  derived  assistance.  His  political 
treatise  on  the  Existence  and  Cause  of  the  State,  an  essay 
closely  following  the  theory  of  Hobbes,  does  not  by  so 
much  as  a single  syllable  allude  to  the  English  writer. 
Much  of  the  work  on  Method  is  derived  from  the  Novum 
Organum,  but  there  is  not  a line  in  the  book  alluding 
by  name  to  Bacon.  The  treatise  on  God,  Mankind,  and 
Happiness  owes  much  to  Descartes,  who  is  only  once 
named,  and  then  not  as  the  master  whose  teaching  the 
treatise  is  repeating,  but  on  the  occasion  of  an  objection 
for  the  refutation  of  which  Descartes  is  referred  to. 
Spinoza  may  have  shrunk  from  naming  Bruno,  the  un- 
compromising enemy  of  all  Aristotelians,  by  whom  he  had 
been  hunted  from  town  to  town,  everywhere  roving  and 
rejected,  the  author  of  the  Expulsion , which  was  re- 
puted to  have  denied  God,  and  accused,  moreover,  of 
having  written  De  Tribus  Impostoribus.  But  it  is  also 
probable  that  the  manner  of  life  of  the  Dutch  philoso- 
pher had  its  share  in  his  apparently  ungrateful  silence. 
Despising  the  world,  he  knew  neither  pleasure,  action, 
nor  glory;  and  as  he  was  completely  indifferent  to  his 
own  fame,  he  desired  his  name  should  be  concealed 
after  his  death.  Effaced  in  his  work,  which  was  his 
only  life  and  his  true  glory,  he  had  almost  earned  the 
right  to  appropriate  the  thoughts  of  others,  which  he 
looked  upon  as  due  contributions  to  the  joint-stock  of 
learning.  When  he  was  young  he  desired  love ; but  he 
did  not  find  it,  for  he  did  not  inspire  it : poor  and 


i6o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


suffering,  his  life  was  spent  in  the  hope  and  meditation 
of  death  ; 1 and  in  the  outskirts  of  Amsterdam  or  in  an 
obscure  corner  of  the  Hague  he  earned  the  scanty  share 
of  bread  and  of  milk  necessary  to  his  sustenance  by 
polishing  glasses.  He  was  repudiated  by  the  men  of  his 
own  communion,  and  suspected  by  every  other  sect : all 
the  clergy  in  Europe  detested  him  because  he  taught  the 
subjection  of  the  Church  to  the  State ; and  it  was  only 
by  living  in  hiding  that  he  escaped  persecution  and  out- 
rage. His  humbleness  and  silence,  his  gentleness  and 
his  patience,  formed  a character  little  fitted  for  dwelling 
in  the  world,  where,  indeed,  he  did  not  desire  to  remain ; 
he  was  not  anxious  to  be  remarkable  while  he  lived,  nor 
to  be  remembered  when  he  died. 

However,  some  acknowledgment  is  to  be  expected  from 
a writer  under  many  obligations,  and  accordingly  we  find 
in  the  preface  to  the  third  part  of  his  Ethics,  Spinoza 
speaks  of  writers,  whom  he  does  not  name,  but  to  whom 
he  owes  thanks  for  having  written  “ much  that  is  most 
excellent  on  the  right  conduct  of  life.”  It  is  probable 
that  Bruno  is  counted  among  these,  and  distinct  traces  of 
relationship  to  him  appear  in  the  writings  of  Spinoza. 
The  unity  of  being,  the  infinity  of  its  attributes,  the  im- 
manence of  the  Godhead  in  the  universe,  the  comprehen- 
sion of  evil  as  deficience — these  are  principles  alike  in 
both  philosophies ; all  teaching  of  God  as  one  being,  who 
is  all,  without  whom  nothing  is,  nor  can  be  thought ; 
whose  being  is  also  the  being  of  individual  things  : every 
allusion  to  God  as  the  highest  good,  all  teaching  that  the 
Divine  Mind  is  the  source  of  all  minds,  of  all  direct  know- 
ledge, which  is  reached  not  by  inference,  but  by  direct 
contemplation  of  the  highest  Being  as  he  stands  revealed 
in  his  handiwork;  of  love  as  the  perfect  union  of  the 
soul  with  God,  which,  by  freeing  man  from  the  love  of 
earthly  things,  causes  him  to  attain  the  highest  happiness 


1 “ Yita  est  meditatio  mortis.” — Spinoza. 


INFLUENCE  ON  SPINOZA. 


1 6 1 


— this  Neo-Platonic  teaching  of  Bruno  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Ethics  of  Spinoza. 

Spinoza,  however,  fell  too  soon  under  subjection  to  a 
law  of  mechanical  necessity,  resulting  in  what  has  been 
called  “ Spinozism  ” or  atheism,  which,  says  Kuno  Fischer, 

“ is  a philosophy  presented  by  Spinoza  in  the  form  of  the 
Gorgon’s  head.”  God,  in  the  language  of  Spinoza,  loves 
no  one  {Ethics,  v.  1 7 coroll.)  ; he  is  the  possessor  of  per- 
fection in  perfect  and  eternal  rest.  Busied  and  absorbed 
in  his  conception  of  God,  he  lost  sight  of  a just  concep- 
tion of  man.  The  God  of  his  creation  was  a natural  out- 
come of  the  terrible  God  of  Judah,  the  fighting  Lord  of  '? 
Hosts,  the  jealous  God  : his  God  is  the  infinite,  which 
manifests  itself  in  blind  destruction  of  the  finite.  But  in 
comparing  the  teaching  of  Spinoza  and  Bruno,  there  is  a 
marked  distinction  in  favour  of  the  Italian  philosopher. 
His  exalted  view  of  Nature  as  a living  mirror  in  which 
we  behold  the  “pictures  of  natural  things  and  the  shadow 
of  the  Divinity,”  is  far  removed  from  the  realism  of 
Spinoza ; and  in  the  crucial  test  of  philosophy  a great 
and  striking  divergence  arises.  With  Spinoza  the  ideal 
and  the  real  are  one ; with  Bruno  nothing  is  real  but  the 
ideal.  Form  or  the  idea  is  the  source  of  all  things. 
Thought  precedes  Nature  [ante  naturalia) ; Nature  is  the 
shadow  of  ideas  ( forma  sine  vestigium  idearum).  When 
thought  follows  Nature  ( post  naturalia ) it  is  called  under- 
standing ; and  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  things  of 
Nature  are  more  perfect  than  the  shadows  of  ideas,  the 
original  idea  is  more  perfect  than  Nature. 

According  to  Bruno,  it  is  the  soul  which  gives  shape  to- 
the  forms  of  the  world  ; all  movement  being  the  expres- 
sion of  an  inner  life,  a seeking-  for  and  fleeing  from  of- 
kindred  souls  and  souls  opposed.  But  the  poetic  aspect 
bestowed  by  him  on  the  universe  was  completely  removed 
from  the  theory  of  Descartes,  which,  in  its  separation  of 
soul  from  matter,  sets  up  the  dualism  against  which 
Bruno  strove.  All  motion,  even  that  of  organic  beings, 

L 


162 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


was  attributed  to  atomic  attraction,  and  tlie  spiritual 
world  was  regarded  as  a world  in  itself,  opposed  to  the 
world  of  mechanism.  While  adopting  this  system  of 
mechanical  physics,  Spinoza  sundei’ed  himself  from 
Bruno’s  soul  of  the  Universe.  Of  that  wealth  of  con- 
ditions and  images  out  of  which  Bruno  fashioned  his 
principle  of  Unity,  nothing  remains  to  Spinoza  but  the 
abstract  conception  of  substance  and  causality.  In  his 
Etliics  he  identifies  God  with  Nature ; but  it  is  not  the 
living  Nature  of  Bruno,  that  mother  of  all  things,  who, 
herself  unchanging,  brings  forth  all  things  and  sup- 
ports all  things.  Spinoza  teaches  the  unity  of  things 
emanating  from  their  cause  by  a law  of  mechanical  neces- 
sity. The  spiritual  world  was  to  him  independent  of 
the  world  of  matter ; that  unity  escaped  him,  the  seal  of 
which  every  man  carries  within  him  in  the  close  union 
of  soul  and  body ; and  although,  with  Bruno,  Spinoza 
believed  in  an  immortal  union  of  our  love  with  the  love 
of  God  ( Treatise  on  God,  Mankind,  and  his  Happiness, 
154,  p.  206),  yet  his  view  of  the  Supreme  Deity  is  that 
of  a dumb  bearer  of  the  predicates,  mere  trappings  and 
insignia  of  office,  from  which  in  an  uncontrolled  manner 
virtue  goes  out,  as  from  the  garment  of  Christ. 


( 1 63  ) 


CHAPTER  VII. 


“The  past  and  the  present  are  two  relations  in  eternity,  which  is  a con- 
tinual present.” — Victor  Cousin. 


Paris,  1st  June.  Mayence,  June  1 586.  Marburg,  J uly  1 5 86.  Matri- 
culated at  Wittenberg,  August  20,  1586.  Quits  Wittenberg,  March 
1 588.  The  Fareviell  Oration  at  Wittenberg. 

On  delivering  liis  theses  to  the  rector  of  the  university, 
Bruno  announced  his  intention  to  quit  Paris,  and  he 
presented  the  disputation  as  his  formal  leave-taking  of 
the  town.  It  has  been  suggested  that  his  departure  was 
a direct  result  of  the  disputation.  But  this  is  not  so, 
since  he  took  that  opportunity  not  only  to  bid  farewell 
to  Paris,  but  to  declare  his  intention  of  visiting  other 
universities. 

On  account  of  the  civil  wars,  Paris  itself  appears  to 
have  been  an  unprofitable  abode  for  a man  of  learning. 
“ There  was  a time,”  says  the  Leaguer  of  the  Satire 
Meni'p'pie,  “ when  we  longed  to  know  the  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin  tongues,  but  we  now  rather  desire  a good  salt 
ox-tongue  for  an  excellent  commentary  on  hay-bread ; ” 
the  latter  being  only  a degree  better  than  the  bread 
called  after  Madame  de  Montpensier,  which  was  made  of 
bones. 

“ I left  Paris,”  the  Documents  resume,  “ on  account  of 
the  tumults ; ” and  in  the  oration  which  he  pronounced 
at  Wittenberg  in  1588,  Bruno  was  at  the  pains  to  con- 
gratulate himself  (Gfr.  634)  on  having  escaped  the  “ dis- 
asters of  Paris.”  It  was  about  the  1st  of  June  1586 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


164 

when  he  set  off  to  seek  more  peaceful  employment  in 
Germany.  He  went  first  to  Mayence  (Mez  in  the  docu- 
ments of  the  trial ; in  the  Rhenish  dialect  the  n is  sup- 
pressed), where  he  remained  about  twelve  days ; and  not 
finding  suitable  entertainment  either  there  or  at  Vispure? 
“a  place  not  far  off”  (Doc.  ix.),  he  went  to  Marburg, 
thinking  to  resume  his  work  of  teaching.  This  attempt, 
however,  was  checked  by  the  unruly  spirit  which  had 
shown  itself  earlier  in  Geneva,  and  which  was  inseparable 
from  his  conduct  and  character. 

Mount  Sinai,  we  are  told  by  Heine,  was  but  a little 
pedestal  for  the  feet  of  Moses,  whose  head  was  raised  to 
the  skies,  and  whose  speech  was  with  God.  The  whole 
earth  was  to  Bruno  what  Mount  Sinai  was  to  Moses, 
though  with  this  difference,  that  an  essential  condition 
for  peaceful  communion  with  the  skies,  which  is  indiffer- 
ence to  troubles  on  earth,  was  absent  from  his  composi- 
tion. 

Every  pin-prick  angered  him.  Indications  of  his  char- 
acter abound  in  his  works.  He  speaks  (W.  ii.  221)  of 
“ heroic  generosity,  which  can  pardon  those  beneath  it, 
compassionate  the  weak  and  infirm,  subdue  insolence, 
trample  upon  temerity,  rebuke  presumption,  and  van- 
quish pride.”  A true  Neapolitan,  he  practised  no  re- 
serve except  in  silence  and  other  negative  qualities.  He 
scouted  compromise,  allotting  a place  in  the  skies  to 
Anger,  which  he  regarded  as  “ a most  necessary  virtue  ” 
(W.  ii.  219);  “ for  it  favours  law,  strengthens  truth  and 
judgment,  and  sharpens  the  wit,  opening  the  road  to 

1 It  has  been  suggested  that  this  too  far.  The  Rhenish  pronuncia- 
place  is  Wurzburg.  At  its  newly  tion,  joined  to  the  spelling  of  the 
founded  university  Bruno  might  Italian  copyist,  accounts  for  the  un- 
have  sought  employment,  and  soon  couth  exchange  of  Wurzburg  into 
finding  there  was  no  opening  for  Vispure.  Professor  Carriere  is  of 
him,  he  might  have  quitted  the  town  opinion  that  Wiesbaden  is  the  town 
without  inscribing  his  name  on  the  designated.  It  is  pronounced  Wis- 
register  of  the  university.  Weissen-  bare  by  the  peasants,  and  it  is  not 
burg,  in  Alsace,  which  has  been  sug-  too  far  removed  either  from  May- 
gested  by  one  of  his  biographers,  is  ence  or  from  Marburg. 


MARBURG,  JULY  7386. 


165 


many  notable  virtues  of  wliicli  peaceable  minds  know 
nothing.”  In  another  work  he  says  (W.  ii.  424),  “ No 
man  truly  loves  goodness  and  truth  who  is  not  incensed 
with  the  multitude,  as,  in  what  is  commonly  called  love, 
he  would  be  jealous  and  fearful  for  the  thing  beloved.” 
It  was  his  prayer  to  be  all  arms  and  all  eyes,  a new) 
Briareus  and  a new  Argus,  that  he  might  penetrate  and  I 
embrace  the  whole  of  the  infinite  universe  together  with; 
“ the  matter  of  Nature,”  which,  “ being  always  the  samel 
under  all  forms  of  Nature,  is  not  to  be  seen  by  the  eye,  \ 
but  with  the  reason  alone,  with  the  intellect.”  He  calls 
upon  “heroic  Fear”  to  make  him  as  much  afraid  of 
perishing  from  among  the  illustrious  as  from  among  the 
living.  “ 0 memory  of  a well-spent  life ! ” he  cries, 
“ make  old  age  and  death  carry  me  away  before  my  mind 
comes  to  be  disordered.  And  thou,  Fear  of  losing  the 
glory  acquired  in  life,  make  old  age  and  death  not 
bitter,  but  desirable  and  dear”  (W.  ii.  96).  In  the 
same  work  (W.  ii.  186)  he  writes:  “Fortitude  is 

ordered  to  mark  those  things  which  the  strong  ought 
not  to  fear — hunger,  nakedness,  thirst,  pain,  poverty, 
solitude,  persecution,  death ; but  from  those  other  things 
which  ought  to  be  dreaded,  because  they  injure,  men 
must  flee  with  all  diligence.  These  are  ignorance,  in- 
justice, unfaithfulness,  falsehood,  avarice,  and  the  like.” 
Again,  he  asks  of  the  gods  to  make  him  “ unmoved  and 
intrepid  when  honour  and  the  common  welfare  are  at 
stake.” 

The  records  of  Marburg  remain  to  show  in  what  an 
uncompromising  spirit  this  petition  was  fulfilled.  On  the 
25th  of  July  1586,  Bruno  applied  to  the  then  rector  of 
the  university,  Nigidius,  professor  of  moral  philosophy, 
and  matriculated  as  doctor  of  Roman  theology.  “ But,” 
says  the  rector  of  the  university,  “ permission  to  hold 
public  disputations  on  philosophy  for  weighty  reasons 
having  been  denied  to  him  by  me,  with  the  consent  of  the 
whole  Philosophic  Faculty,  he  fell  into  a passion  of  anger, 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


1 66 

and  lie  insulted  me  in  my  house,  as  though  I had  acted 
in  this  matter  against  the  rights  of  man  and  the  usages 
of  all  the  German  universities,  and  against  all  zeal  in 
learning  ; and,  therefore,  he  desired  not  to  continue  a 
member  of  the  academy,  to  which  desire  we  agreed 
gladly,  and  his  name  was  cancelled  by  me  on  the  rolls  of 
the  university.”  In  a later  hand  Bruno’s  name  is  restored 
in  the  records  of  Marburg,  and  the  words  “ with  the  con- 
sent of  the  whole  Philosophic  Faculty”  are  struck  out. 
The  records  lately  discovered  at  Geneva  offer  a clue  to 
those  “ weighty  reasons  ” which  hindered  Nigidius  from 
accepting  Bruno  as  a lecturer  in  the  university. 

It  was  strange  that  the  opposition  of  the  Catholic 
Church  to  freedom  should  be  signalised  by  one  remark- 
able exception.  This  was  the  reform  of  the  calendar, 
which  was  as  heartily  opposed  by  the  innovators  as  if  to 
bring  the  equinox  under  control  meant  to  assail  the 
life  and  liberty  of  all  true  Protestants,  who  pinned  their 
faith  to  the  old  Calendar.  Pope  Gregory,  the  patron  of 
the  reform,  gave  such  tokens  of  his  satisfaction  at  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholmew  in  the  shape  of  pictures,  pro- 
cessions, medals,  and  indulgences  that  the  Protestants 
sickened  at  his  name.  His  effort  to  pass  over  the  eleven 
days  from  the  4th  to  the  1 5th  of  October  1582  was  re- 
ceived with  an  outburst  of  indignation.  People  followed 
the  carriages  of  ministers  of  state  crying  “ Give  us  back 
our  eleven  days.”  The  Diet  of  Augsburg  roundly  declined 
to  consider  the  matter  at  all,  and  the  quarrel  ran  so  high 
that  respectable  German  burgomasters  resigned  their 
robes  and  chains  of  office  and  left  their  country  rather 
than  submit  to  a change  suspected  of  concealing  ultra- 
montane designs.  The  Gregorian  calendar  was  accepted 
for  its  catholicity,  like  the  mass  and  the  sign  of  the 
cross.  Kepler  did  not  escape  the  suspicion  of  his  fel- 
low-Lutherans  when  he  announced  his  adherence  to  the 
new  scheme ; and  it  was  a curious  contradiction  to  see 
the  new  Christians  cling  to  the  old  style,  while  the 


WITTENBERG , AUGUST  1586.  167 

Christians  of  the  ancient  faith  did  their  utmost  to  estab- 
lish the  novelty. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  Bruno,  who  conformed  to 
the  new  calendar,  was  rejoiced  to  show  his  obedience  to 
the  Church,  when  for  once  she  did  not  run  counter  to 
science.  But  Marburg  was  radically  opposed  to  the 
reform  of  the  calendar,  which  being  called  after  a Pope, 
was  naturally  regarded  by  all  good  Protestants  with  sus- 
picion. The  Copernican  theory  was  looked  upon  with 
equal  distrust,  and  Bruno,  a warm  advocate  of  both 
innovations,  was  not  likely  to  receive  quarter  from  the 
professors  of  the  Reformed  religion.  He  matriculated  at 
Marburg  on  the  25th  July,  and  finding  it  impossible 
to  bridle  the  malevolence  of  the  rector,  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  leave  the  town  almost  immediately. 

Supposing  that  Bruno  begged  his  way,  he  would  have 
done  only  what  was  common  among  English  university 
students  three  hundred  years  ago,  or  among  German 
students  even  thirty  years  ago,  although  begging  was, 
personally,  extremely  distasteful  to  him,  for  he  spoke 
contemptuously  of  the  monks  who  hold  their  breviaries  in 
one  hand  and  extend  the  other  for  alms  (Doc.  xii.)  He 
was  in  poor  circumstances,  encumbered  with  but  little 
luggage,  though  no  doubt  he  carried  some  of  his  pam- 
phlets on  the  art  of  Lully  with  him, — we  could  not  other- 
wise account  for  their  appearance  in  so  many  of  the  cities 
through  which  he  passed.  Nor  was  he  exposed  to  what 
Macaulay  calls  “ the  disease  of  admiration ; ” for,  quoting 
Tasso,  the  Nolan  speaks  of  “ that  idol  of  error  and  deceit 
which  is  called  honour  by  the  vulgar”  (W.  ii.  201),  and 
it  was  one  to  which  he  never  paid  any  court. 

The  wandering  philosopher  appeared  next  at  Witten- 
berg, hoping  for  liberty  of  discussion,  and  for  the  frank 
and  simple  hospitality  given  by  the  German  people  to 
men  of  letters.  That  little  city,  the  centre  of  Lutheran- 
ism, received  him  cordially.  Standing  in  the  hill-country 
of  Saxony,  Wittenberg  shared  with  the  Swiss,  the  Scotch, 


1 68 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


and  other  mountain  people  the  renown  of  independence. 
The  town  had  known  reverses.  In  1547  the  Spanish 
troops  overran  the  neighbouring  villages,  stealing  cattle, 
sacking  houses,  and  leaving  the  unburied  bodies  of  the 
wretched  cottagers  in  the  fields  to  be  eaten  by  dogs.  The 
Spaniards  threatened  not  to  leave  one  stone  upon  another 
in  the  dens  of  the  heretics.  But  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
gave  his  word  that  not  a Spanish  soldier  should  enter 
the  walls,  and  Wittenberg  capitulated,  only  too  soon,  how- 
ever, to  be  ravaged  by  the  Thirty  Years’  War.  Many 
tokens  of  peace  and  prosperity  were  preserved  by  the  city 
throughout  its  troubles.  In  Bruno’s  time  Luther’s  his- 
toric oak  stood,  as  it  still  stands,  outside  the  walls,  and 
within  them  the  Augustinian  monastery  to  this  day 
frowns  at  its  strange  and  distasteful  post  of  guardian 
over  the  traces  of  happy  married  life.  Here  Luther  lived 
for  nearly  forty  years,  and  his  memory  was  still  green 
within  the  walls,  which  he  had  quitted  scarcely  a quarter 
of  a century  before. 

On  the  20th  August  1586  Bruno  was  permitted  by 
the  Hector  Albinus  to  enter  his  name  on  the  lists  of  the 
university,  and  at  the  same  time  he  received  permission 
to  deliver  private  lectures.  He  remained  in  Wittenberg 
nearly  two  years,  and,  after  London,  the  German  city 
seems  to  have  held  the  first  place  in  his  affection.  Here 
he  met  once  more  his  countryman  Alberico  Gentile,  the 
founder  of  international  law,  whom  he  had  first  known  in 
Oxford,  and  to  whose  good  offices  he  owed  his  introduction 
to  his  post  as  lecturer  upon  the  Organon  of  Aristotle 
(Doc.  ix.)  He  received  much  kindness,  too,  from  other 
professors,  grateful  notice  of  whose  names  is  made  in  the 
short  work  on  Lully,  which  was  published  in  1587  and 
dedicated  to  the  senate  of  the  university.  The  professors 
of  Toulouse,  Paris,  and  Oxford,  he  says,  received  him  with 
grimaces,  with  upturned  noses,  puffed  cheeks,  and  with 
loud  blows  on  their  desks  ; but  the  learned  men  of 
Wittenberg  showed  him  courtesy,  and  left  him  at  peace 


WITTENBERG,  1587. 


169 


to  pursue  the  tenor  of  his  philosophy.  Besides  the  works 
on  Lully  and  the  theses  of  the  Paris  disputation,  Bruno 
dictated  to  a pupil,  Johann  Heinrich  Alsted,  the  historian 
and  theologian  of  Herborn  in  Nassau,  a small  work  upon 
the  Rhetoric  of  Aristotle.  In  the  dedication  of  the  Com- 
binatory  Lamp  of  Lully , the  first  book  with  which  he 
accosted  the  town,  Bruno  praises  the  “ liberty  of  philo- 
sophy” practised  by  Wittenberg,  “ the  Athens  of  Germany, 
the  daughter  of  Minerva,  and  the  queen  of  German 
schools.”  In  these  grateful  terms  he  addressed  the  senate 
of  the  university,  and  the  same  spirit  showed  itself  in  his 
farewell  oration.  His  dignified  and  pathetic  tone  is  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  trumpet-blast  with  which  he 
thought  proper  to  assail  the  walls  of  Oxford.  To  the 
university  senate  of  Wittenberg  he  writes  (Gfr.  624)  : 
“ You  have  received  and  supported  me ; you  have  dealt 
kindly  with  me  up  to  this  day.  I was  a stranger  to  you, 
a fugitive  from  the  tumults  of  Gaul,  not  distinguished  by 
any  royal  commendation,  bearing  no  ensigns  of  hononr, 
not  proved  nor  questioned  in  your  religion  ; but  finding  in 
me  no  hostile  spirit  (for  I desire  to  follow  the  tranquil 
course  of  universal  philanthropy),  you  received  me  gladly, 
deeming  my  name  worthy  to  stand  in  the  book  of  your 
academy,  and  to  be  counted  among  the  most  noble  and 
learned  of  your  people,  that  I might  acknowledge  as  my 
own,  not  any  private  school,  nor  ordinary  assemblage  of 
scholars,  but  the  German  Athens,  which  is  this  great 
university.”  The  book  to  which  this  address  serves  as  a 
preface  is  a treatise  on  the  art  of  Lully,  presented  to  the 
university  under  the  figure  of  a lamp  or  torch,  by  means 
of  which  ideas  are  evolved  and  marshalled  in  order,  and 
the  mysteries  of  Pythagoras  and  the  Kabbalah  unveiled. 
Bruno  thinks  it  necessary  in  his  address  to  apologise  to 
the  university  for  the  novelty  of  his  terms,  because  they 
were  unavoidable  in  a science  so  novel  as  that  of  Lully ; 
but  as  a fact  the  Combinatory  Lamp  of  Lully  was  little 
more  than  a commentary  on  the  Compendious  Architecture. 


i;o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Short  explanations  are  given ; they  are  compared  with 
the  Alphabet , the  Syllabicum,  and  the  Dictionarium.  The 
same  nine  elementary  concepts,  with  absolute  and  relative 
predicates  and  questions,  appear  arranged  under  the  nine 
letters  of  the  alphabet  serving  as  signs  or  symbols.  These 
are  more  accurately  treated,  and  the  notes,  rules,  and 
figures  are  much  more  numerous  and  better. 

Another  favourite  image  with  Bruno  is  the  chase.  It 
is  a figure  to  which  he  makes  many  allusions  in  the 
Heroic  Rapture , and  it  serves  for  a title  to  a second 
work  on  Lully  printed  at  Wittenberg.  The  Chase  of 
Logic  was  dedicated  to  George  Mylius,  the  chancellor  of 
the  university.  It  is  an  allegorical  representation  of 
logic  and  its  application  under  the  emblem  of  a hunt. 
The  objects  of  perception  are  represented  by  a pathless 
and  thorny  enclosure  (campus).  In  the  midst  of  this 
enclosure  is  a tower  ( turris ),  which  represents  the  object 
of  speculation.  The  nearest  fields  or  spaces  ( agri ) to 
this  tower  are  called  accident,  property,  species,  genus, 
definition.  These  latter,  with  the  tower,  are  the  objects 
of  the  chase.  The  hunter  is  man ; the  game  is  the 
solution  of  a dialectic  problem  ; the  hounds  are  of  two 
kinds — the  first,  which  are  swift  and  light-footed,  repre- 
sent inductive  reasons ; the  second,  which  are  slow  and 
strong,  represent  syllogisms.  The  parable  is  developed 
to  the  utmost  limits  of  ingenuity.  The  net  is  the  faculty 
of  readiness  in  the  choice  of  propositions  and  in  uniting 
them  to  the  syllogism  in  order  to  be  able  to  bring  down 
the  game.  A watch-tower  is  required  to  discover  the 
game,  signifying  that  we  must  carefully  examine  the 
object  of  the  chase  or  investigation;  and  as  the  enclosure 
in  which  the  hunt  takes  place  is  dense  and  thorny,  means 
are  offered  for  penetrating  the  thicket  and  clearing  a path. 
The  allegory  is  finished  with  a full  description  of  the 
fields  lying  round  the  tower,  and  to  each  separate  alle- 
gorical figure  Bruno  applies  the  mnemonic  rules  suited 
to  it.  The  work  concludes  with  an  allegoric  figure  or 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  WITTENBERG.  17 1 

table  of  the  supreme  attributes  of  the  Absolute,  cut  doubt- 
less by  Bruno’s  own  hand.  These  attributes  stand  within 
a circle  and  round  a sphere.  They  consist  of  Glory, 
Bounty,  Magnitude,  Duration,  Power,  Wisdom,  Will, 
Virtue,  and  Truth.  They  are  so  arranged  as  to  resemble 
a modern  scientific  diagram  of  the  various  modes  of 
Power : heat,  motion,  sound,  electricity,  &c.  They  are, 
as  it  were,  rays  of  light  from  a sun ; each  attribute  occu- 
pies the  same,  space  as  the  other  ; each  stands  in  the 
same  relation  to  the  Absolute  (the  centre  or  sphere) ; 
and  each  is  apparently  interchangeable  with  every  other. 

A university,  which  is  a private  union  of  men  engaged 
in  teaching  and  learning,  was  in  the  days  of  Bruno 
purely  ecclesiastical  by  nature ; and  the  University  of 
Wittenberg  was  the  first  to  obtain  precedence  for  the 
Emperor  instead  of  for  the  Pope.  It  was  created  on  the 
model  of  the  venerable  school  at  Bologna,  and  consecrated 
in  1502,  on  the  1 8th  of  October,  a day  on  which  the 
horoscope  was  drawn  and  discovered  to  be  propitious. 
St.  Augustine  was  the  chosen  patron  of  the  university, 
and  St.  Paul  was  patron  of  the  Theological  Faculty.  Dr. 
Fleck,  Prior  of  the  Minorites,  who  preached  the  sermon 
on  the  day  of  consecration,  predicted  that  out  of  this 
White  Mountain  (as  he  rendered  the  name  of  the  town) 
living  waters  of  wisdom  should  proceed  and  spread  over 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Six  years  later  the  prediction 
began  to  be  verified,  when  Martinus  Luder  of  Mansfeld 
entered  his  name  on  the  rolls  of  the  university.  On  the 
1st  of  October  1517,  Luther  fastened  to  the  doors  of 
the  church  of  All  Saints  the  celebrated  ninety-five  theses, 
requiring,  among  other  reforms,  “ that  Christians  should 
learn  that  if  the  Pope  knew  the  extortions  of  dealers  in 
indulgences  he  would  blow  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  into 
the  air  with  gunpowder  rather  than  build  it  anew  with 
the  skin,  flesh,  and  bones  of  his  flock,”  and  that  “ the 
true  treasure  of  the  Church  is  the  most  holy  gospel  of 
the  glory  and  forgiveness  of  God.” 


172 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Such  was  that  “ wisdom,  of  the  White  Mountain  ” of 
which  Dr.  Fleck  was  the  harbinger.  Before  a fortnight 
had  passed  Germany  was  ringing  from  north  to  south  with 
the  theses  of  Luther,  and  a few  weeks  later  they  had 
spread  into  Italy  and  Spain.  The  Priors  besought  him 
not  to  disgrace  his  order ; and  he  answered  in  the  words 
of  Gamaliel,  ££  If  this  counsel  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to 
nought ; but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it.” 
Hieronymus  Schurff,  when  walking  early  in  November 
with  Luther  to  the  Kemberg,  said  that  no  one  in  the 
Christian  world  would  endure  it  if  he  persisted  in  writing 
against  the  Pope  ; on  which  Luther  answered,  “ What  if 
they  must  endure  it  ? ” 

Dr.  Fleck  wept  with  joy  when  he  read  the  proclamation 
of  reform  on  the  doors  of  the  church.  ££  He  will  accom- 
plish this  work,”  he  cried ; “ it  is  he  for  whose  coming  all 
men  look.”  Leo.  N.  in  his  letters  acknowledged  Brother 
Martin  to  be  more  prudent  and  ingenious  than  all  his 
opponents  put  together ; and  the  Emperor  Max,  openly 
declaring  the  tenets  of  Luther  to  be  worthy  of  respect, 
was  a joyful  spectator  of  the  opening  of  his  struggle  with 
the  priests. 

It  was  said  that  for  one  in  Germany  for  the  Pope,  there 
were  three  for  Luther.  The  profoundest  scholar  of  the 
Greek  language,  Philip  Melancthon,  a youth  one-and- 
twenty  years  of  age,  with  a boyish  and  insignificant 
exterior  and  with  an  extraordinary  charm  of  manner,  took 
up  his  abode  in  Wittenberg  in  1518.  From  that 
moment  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  was  ardently 
pursued,  and  Germany  resounded  with  the  fame  of  the 
two  reformers.  A square  of  stone  is  still  shown  near 
Leipsig,  where,  after  a disputation,  Luther  and  his  com- 
panions dined,  surrounded  by  two  hundred  students 
armed  to  the  teeth.  As  a result  of  the  disputation  held 
with  Eck  of  Ingolstadt,  who  hastened  to  Rome  to  lay  his 
complaint  against  the  reformer  before  the  Pope,  Luther’s 
theses  were  ordered  to  be  burnt,  and  he  was  himself  pro- 


LUTHER. 


173 


nounced  to  be  a dry  branch,  and  one  that  could  no  longer 
be  permitted  to  abide  with  the  true  vine.  The  question 
of  Melancthon’s  belief  or  unbelief  was  discussed  at  Rome 
by  the  Pope  and  by  Cardinal  Bembo,  the  future  Pope, 
in  full  counsel  and  with  the  solemnity  of  an  affair  of 
state.  Meanwhile  believers  increased  by  hundreds  yearly. 
Luther  retaliated  on  those  who  had  publicly  burnt  his 
theses  at  Ingolstadt  and  elsewhere  by  burning  the  Pope’s 
bull  before  the  Kreuzthor  of  Wittenberg,  probably  in  the 
very  spot  where  the  effects  of  the  plague-stricken  were 
committed  to  the  flames.  “ As  thou,”  he  is  recorded  to 
have  said  to  the  Papal  instrument  of  correction,  “ hast 
afflicted  the  saints  of  the  Lord,  so  may  eternal  fire  afflict 
and  consume  thee  ; ” and  as  soon  as  Luther  left  the  spot 
some  hundred  of  the  students  joined  in  a Te,  Deum  and 
in  a requiem  for  the  Decretals.  The  reformer  defended 
his  action  in  a pamphlet  in  which  he  said  he  was  ready 
to  justify  himself  “ in  everything  to  every  one.”  He  was 
soon  called  upon  to  prove  his  words.  The  next  year  he 
was  required  to  appear  before  the  Emperor  and  the 
Imperial  Diet  at  Worms,  and  he  lay  under  the  ban  of 
the  supreme  civil  authority,  joined  to  the  interdict  of  the 
Pope.  Nothing  abashed,  he  turned  his  time  of  imprison- 
ment into  consolation  by  revising  the  divine  services  and 
translating  the  Bible,  and  his  deserted  people  in  Witten- 
berg were  gladdened  at  intervals  by  news  of  their  leader 
and  by  his  vindication  of  himself  in  his  glorious  render- 
ing of  the  37th  Psalm. 

Indeed  his  presence  was  sadly  needed  in  his  own 
town.  As  a consequence  of  the  marriage  of  the  priests, 
disturbances  had  broken  out ; celibacy  was  denounced  out 
of  the  very  pulpits  from  which  it  had  been  preached,  and 
thirteen  friars  quitted  the  Augustine  convent  to  become 
plain  citizens  or  students.  On  the  3d  December  1521 
the  younger  burghers,  armed  with  knives,  forced  an  entry 
into  the  church  during  mass,  seized  the  missals  on  the 
altar,  and  drove  away  the  priests.  Two  days  later  an 


174 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


attack  was  made  upon  the  convent  of  the  Minorites ; an 
altar  in  their  chapel  was  demolished,  and  such  a defiance 
fastened  to  their  gates  that  the  friars  went  in  fear  of 
their  lives,  and  begged  protection  from  the  soldiery. 

The  Elector  called  upon  Melancthon,  then  only  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  and  upon  three  representatives  from 
the  university,  with  a convention  of  Augustine  friars,  to 
consider  the  question  ; the  partakers  in  rebellion  were 
sent  to  prison,  and  the  Elector,  who  hesitated  in  sanction- 
ing any  change,  saw  himself  forced  to  submit  to  anarchy. 
The  town  rose,  the  churches  were  shorn  of  all  superfluous 
splendour,  and  a sect  began  to  administer  the  communion 
with  reformed  rites,  raising  meanwhile  such  an  outcry 
against  learning  and  learned  men,  that  the  affrighted 
burghers  dared  not  send  their  children  to  school.  It  was 
high  time  Luther  should  reappear.  Against  the  will  of 
the  Elector,  but  with  a firm  reliance  on  the  help  of  God, 
the  monk  returned  and  took  the  affairs  of  the  town  in 
hand.  A few  months  later  the  first  copies  of  the  New 
Testament  appeared,  and  the  power  of  the  Papacy  was 
broken.  Henceforth  the  chaplains  of  the  city  were 
free  to  marry,  and  the  Elector  himself  provided  the 
game  for  the  bridal  table.  The  town-council,  the 
chapter,  and  the  university  joined  issue  and  forbade  the 
Minorites  to  gather  alms ; the  older  monks  were  sent  to 
nurse  the  sick,  and  the  young  monks  were  l’ecommended 
to  learn  a trade.  The  very  prince  who,  in  1518,  had 
written  to  Cardinal  Rovere,  “ It  would  grieve  me  to  the 
heart  if  errors  were  to  arise  and  multiply  within  the 
Holy  Church,”  was  brought  to  receive  the  evangelic 
sacrament,  and  to  acknowledge  at  his  death  that  in  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  he  had  found  comfort  and  salvation. 
Thus,  through  the  example  of  Frederick  the  Wise,1  the 
strife  came  peacefully  to  an  end,  and  while  in  many 
foreign  cities  martyrdom  was  following  fast  upon  adher- 

1 Wittenberg  im  Mittelalter,  von  Beilage  zur  Allgemeinen  Zeitung, 
G.  Stier,  Wittenberg,  1S55  ; and  Miinchen,  Nov  7 8,  9,  10,  1883. 


LUTHER. 


175 

ence  to  Luther,  it  was  in  Wittenberg  that  the  hour 
struck  for  the  Reformation,  not  of  Northern  Germany 
alone,  but  of  the  whole  of  Northern  Europe. 

The  Electors,  who  were  charged  with  the  defence  of 
the  altar  and  the  hearth,  had  placed  themselves  at  the 
head  of  the  universities.  As  in  England  and  in  France, 
Latin  was  the  language  of  the  schools  and  theology,  “ the 
divine  omni-science  ” still  held  undisputed  sway.  The 
faith  had  been  guarded  with  zeal  by  the  members  of  a 
Lutheran  consistory.  The  Formula  of  Concord  (which 
was  nicknamed  the  Formula  of  Discord)  had  been  pro- 
mulgated ; free  examination  of  the  Scriptures  was  rigor- 
ously forbidden.  The  gentle  conciliatory  teaching  of  Mel- 
ancthon  was  seized  upon  by  a sect  calling  themselves 
Philippists,  and  celebrated  in  invectives  worthy  of  the 
Philippics  of  old.  Another  party  proclaimed  a blind 
allegiance  to  Luther.  But  the  mantle  of  intolerance  had 
descended  upon  the  Reformers ; and  Bruno’s  star  in  Wit- 
tenberg was  high,  until  it  chanced  that  the  Calvinists 
got  the  upper  hand  of  the  Lutherans,  who  favoured  the 
Italian  philosopher.  While  the  Lutherans  prevailed, 
Bruno  was  suffered  to  teach,  but  the  old  Elector,  the 
father  of  the  Concord,  being  dead,  his  son  Christian 1 
professed  the  teaching  of  Calvin,  and  Bruno,  its  desperate 
opponent,  saw  himself  compelled  to  quit  the  city.  When 
he  arrived  in  Wittenberg  in  August  1586,  some  months 
alter  the  accession  of  the  Calvinist  Prince  Christian, 
(Feb.  1 1,  1586),  the  two  factions  must  have  been  already 
at  strife.  By  degrees  the  old  order  of  things  gave  way 
to  the  new,  and  in  1588  the  chancellor  promulgated  a 
decree  by  which  the  Lutherans  were  strenuously  for- 
bidden to  molest  the  Calvinists  on  any  point  of  doctrine. 
It  was  at  this  period  that  Bruno  determined  to  depart, 

1 Born  in  1560,  this  prince  died  the  feeble  and  gluttonous  son  of  a 
at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  and,  an  in-  wise  father, 
stance  of  contrariety  in  Nature,  was 


176 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


and  on  the  8th  of  March  he  pronounced  the  farewell 
oration  to  the  senate,  an  outline  of  which  next  follows : — 

Valedictory  Oration  of  Doctor  Jordanus  Brunus  of  Nola  to 
the  Professors  a7id  Assemblage  of  the  University  of 
Wittenberg , March  8,  1588. 

Of  the  splendour  of  the  sun  (which  is  apparent  to 
the  eye  of  sense),  of  the  vastness  of  the  universe 
(which  is  assured  to  every  rational  being),  and  of  the 
power  of  God  (which  by  the  necessity  of  Nature  we 
perceive  to  be  boundless),  who  would  not  fear  to  speak  ? 
For  is  it  possible  that  Avords,  which  in  this  conjuncture 
are  but  the  signs  and  tokens  of  things,  and  of  those 
ideas  which  are  either  born  within  us  or  acquired  by 
experience,  could  do  more  than  specify  the  presence 
and  evidence  of  objects  ? It  is,  however,  a worthy 
and  exalted  task  to  celebrate  the  praise  of  wisdom,1 
even  though,  when  we  denote  the  clear  shining  of  the 
lig'ht,  we  do  but  darken  it  with  obscure  and  feeble 
words.  Yet  I look  for  your  pardon ; and  since  fate 
decrees  we  shall  deal  in  words  with  that  which  is  un- 
speakable, let  us  bestow  upon  it  what  time  and  pains  we 
may.  Yet  will  I praise  it  as  far  as  in  me  lies ; although 
the  soul  to  which  this  majesty  has  been  imparted  is 
below  the  measure  of  so  lofty  and  sublime  a conception, 
and  as  I perceive  it  the  more  with  the  eye  of  my  mind, 
I am  so  much  the  more  deprived  of  words,  for  I am  one 
without  the  common  graces  of  speech.  Still  rather  than 
cause  by  silence  the  appearance  of  ingratitude,  I would 
be  taken  for  a most  unlettered  speaker. 

When  the  three  goddesses  were  presented  to  Paris  on 
Mount  Ida,  that  he  might  bestow  the  golden  apple  on 

1 The  praise  of  wisdom  and  the  monstrous,  crooked,  humpbacked, 
vision  of  wisdom  are  the  themes  of  little  old  man,”  this  oration  was 
the  oration.  According  to  “ Hear-  said  to  be  a speech  in  praise  of  the 
say,”  which  Eabelais  describes  as  “ a Devil. 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION. 


1 77 


her  who  was  most  beautiful,  he  stood  irresolute,  his  eyes 
and  his  heart  distracted  at  the  three  presences.  After 
a lapse  of  time  he  cried  in  doubt,  “ Each  deserves  the 
prize ! 0 happy  should  I be,  and  worthy  my  judgment, 

if  the  three  goddesses  were  one  divinity,  or  if  the  apple 
were  three  ! Behold,  here  is  majesty,  not  without  beauty 
and  wisdom  ; wisdom  not  wanting  in  majesty  and  beauty, 
and  beauty  not  without  wisdom  and  majesty.  O turn 
away  your  eyes  from  me,  or  I am  lost ! I cannot,  O 
Mercury,  make  choice  of  one  when  I see  the  goddesses 
together ; to  choose,  I must  judge  each  deity  alone.” 

First  to  the  consort  of  Jove  he  cried,  “ 0 admirable 
divinity,  radiant  in  queenly  and  awful  aspect,  thou  alone 
art  worthy  of  Jupiter!  What  can  exceed  this  majesty, 
this  divine  glory  ? I am  now  assured  that  I prefer  her 
before  all  others.” 

“ Nay,”  said  Mercury,  “ first  let  each  goddess  be 
judged  alone.” 

Minerva  now  appeared.  “ 0 sky,  0 sea  ! ” he  cried, 
“ what  maid  is  this  in  whom  such  terrible  splendour  is 
united  to  such  divine  beauty  ? What  eyes  ! 0 eternity, 
what  a countenance,  and  what  a wondrous  form ! What 
is  all  Nature  compared  to  this  ? None  other  shall  please 
me  better,  and  I will  not  give  my  judgment  against  such 
excellence  and  glory.” 

“ Consider,”  said  Mercury,  “ the  third  goddess.” 

As  soon  as  she  appeared  he  exclaimed,  “0  Jupiter, 
thou  enchanter  ! what  a delight  to  the  eyes,  what  wondrous, 
ensnaring,  captivating  beauty ; how  seductive  and  yet 
how  innocent  is  her  smile  ! Nothing,  0 Mercury,  remains 
to  be  said  ! ” 

“ Each  goddess,”  he  replied,  “ thou  hast  beheld  and 
judged.  Deliver  thy  judgment.” 

To  whom  Paris  : “ The  beauteous  prize,  the  apple  of 
beauty,  is  allotted  to  the  most  beautiful.” 

See  then,  friends,  in  what  manner  he  judged  each  and 
all  of  these ; she  who  was  last  was  first  with  him,  for  at 

M 


i73 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


her  singular  presence  and  aspect  the  memory  of  that 
beauty  which  was  absent  fell  into  oblivion. 

This  legend  denotes  that  which  befalls  me  and  many 
others  when  the  question  arises  between  desire  and  wis- 
dom, or  the  giits  of  fortune  and  of  fate.  They  bestow 
the  prize  on  Juno  who  aspire  after  high  place,  treasure, 
principalities,  kingdoms,  and  empires  ; they  seek  Minerva 
who  prefer  judgment,  wisdom,  and  understanding  before 
all  other  gifts ; and  such  as  love  friends,  comrades,  a life 
of  ease,  and  the  exquisite  intercourse  of  beauty,  will  give 
the  prize  to  Venus.  Now,  although  all  and  each  of  these 
is  by  Nature  pleasing  to  man,  destiny  has  so  provided 
that  man  can  by  no  means  serve  each  of  these  three 
deities  faithfully,  and  therefore  he  cannot  look  for  the 
favour  of  each.  To  one,  not  to  three,  is  his  rightful 
service  due ; for  the  golden  apple  (which  is  the  heart’s 
desire)  is  not  three,  but  one.  Therefore,  let  those  in  love 
give  their  service  to  Venus,  for  she  is  beloved  of  gods  and 
men.  Let  others  pay  homage  to  Juno,  who  with  Jove  is 
the  ruler  of  nations.  Would  you  know  who  is  the  star 
and  goddess  of  my  adoration  ?’  What  can  I say  of  her  ? 
Have  I beheld  her  unveiled  and  in  her  natural  beauty  ? 
What  mortal  eye  could  look  upon  such  beauty  and  such 
majesty  and  live  ? To  see  her  is  to  become  blind  ; to 
become  wise  by  her  is  to  be  foolish.  Have  I seen  her  in 
truth,  or  was  it  a dream  ? I have  seen  her,  and  yet  I 
became  not  mad  nor  blind.1  . . . For  though  she  looked 
upon  me  with  a dark  and  threatening  aspect  (by  which  I 
knew  she  was  not  Venus,  but  Minerva),  she  drew  me  to 
her,  and  fettered  me,  as  with  a magic  spell.  And  why 
has  that  maid  so  forbidding  an  air  ? I make  reply,  that 
Wisdom  is  without  either  the  charms  of  beauty  or  the 
plenteous  horn  of  wealth.  True  philosophers  are  few, 
but  princes  and  marshals  are  many ; and  they  who  have 

1 Parts  of  tlie  speech  are  omitted  The  intrusion  of  words  foreign  to  the 
or  transposed,  on  account  of  ob-  sense  has  been  carefully  avoided, 
scurity  and  repetition  in  the  text. 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION. 


179 


seen  Venus  and  Juno  in  tlie  fulness  of  their  beauty  are 
more  in  number  than  those  beholding  Minerva  clad  and 
in  arms.  For  her  appearance,  her  garments  and  armour, 
she  was  equipped  with  a shining  and  terrible  helmet, 
which  overshadowed  the  virginal  sweetness  of  her  face, 
since  no  man  is  so  defenceless  that,  having  succeeded  in 
approaching  her,  he  cannot  the  better  repel  the  onslaughts 
of  fortune  or  bear  them  wisely.  For  since  the  life  of  man 
on  earth  is  but  warfare,  it  is  Minerva  who  foils  the  devices 
of  the  ungodly,  overcomes  the  proud,  and  frustrates  the 
deceiver.  Thus  did  she  vanquish  FEgeo,  and,  fastening  his 
skin  to  her  breast,  she  possessed  a shield  from  danger 
and  a glorious  ensign  of  her  exploits  : FEgeo,  that  almost 
unconquerable  monster,  who,  with  the  giants  his  fellows, 
sought  to  overthrow  the  might  of  h eaven  ; that  son  of  the 
earth,  whose  fifty  heads  breathed  fiery  flames,  and  whose 
hundred  hands  were  armed  with  fifty  swords,  in  which 
he  trusted  to  subdue  the  adamantine  gates,  and  with  fifty 
shields  to  quench  the  dreaded  lightnings  of  death  hurled 
against  him  by  Jupiter.  In  this  war  upon  the  giants 
(who  scaled  the  loftiest  crags  and  hurled  against  heaven 
such  monstrous  rocks  that  at  their  overthrow  they  came 
forth  like  islands  from  the  sea),  Minerva  would  have  us 
learn  how  vain  a thing  is  the  very  height  of  man’s  power 
against  the  truth  of  God  ; and  how  vain,  too,  in  the  sons 
of  man  are  audacity,  presumption,  and  the  foolish  ima- 
ginings of  ignorance.” 

Next  follows  a description  of  the  goddess’s  helmet, 
which  is  ornamented  with  a tuft  of  feathers,  in  order  to 
signify  that  we  are  not  to  put  our  trust  in  strength  alone, 
but  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  we  are  to  show  forth  the 
ornament  of  a courteous  and  quiet  spirit.  The  cock  with 
outspread  wings  which  adorns  Minerva’s  crest  represents 
the  swiftness,  vigilance,  and  foresight  of  the  combatant ; 
her  keen-edged  lance  is  his  intelligence,  ready  for  offence 
and  for  defence  ; while  to  them  who  oppose  her  she  shows 
the  Gorgon’s  head,  for  her  formidable  and  admirable  quali- 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


i So 

ties  are  such  as  strike  the  beholder  dumb  with  awe. 
“ Who  is  she,  moving  like  the  dawn  ? It  is  Wisdom, 
beautiful  as  the  moon,  shining  like  the  sun,  and  terrible 
as  a host  arrayed  for  battle.  Her  throne,  says  the  lyric 
poet,  is  next  the  throne  of  Jove  ; and,  in  the  words  of  the 
prophet,  1 I am  Wisdom,  and  I dwell  on  the  top  of  the 
high  mountains,  and  my  throne  is  on  a pillar  of  cloud.’ 
On  the  outer  part  of  the  throne  I beheld  and  saw  engraven 
an  owl,  which  is  her  emblem ; for  night  is  not  darkness  to 
her,  and  for  her  the  night  shines  with  the  light  of  day, 
and  my  countenance  is  not  hidden  from  her.  . . . 

“ And  upon  the  surface  of  the  throne,  which  is  the 
work  of  Vulcan,  was  a wondrous  representation  of  the  uni- 
verse, which  is  the  work  of  the  gods,  a plastic  picture, 
and  underneath  was  written,  ‘ He  bestowed  upon  me  the 
knowledge  of  all  living  things,  so  that  to  me  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  sphere  of  the  earth  is  laid  bare,  the  powers  of 
the  elements,  the  beginning,  the  end,  and  the  midst  of 
time,  the  sway  of  fate,  the  changes  of  custom,  the  course 
and  lapse  of  years,  the  order  of  the  stars,  the  nature  of 
life,  the  deadly  rage  of  beasts,  the  powers  of  the  winds, 
the  thoughts  of  men,  the  variety  of  herbs,  the  virtue  of 
roots  ; for  that  which  is  hid  from  others  lies  open  for  ever 
before  me.  For  mine  is  the  sacred  spark  which  is  unity 
and  diversity ; which  is  subtle,  certain,  sweet,  sharp, 
learned,  stable,  benign,  having  all  virtues,  foreseeing  all 
things.’  I saw  the  palladium  near  the  throne,  and  upon 
it  power  and  deliverance  ; for  a town  having  that  statue 
within  its  walls  is  safe  from  plunder  and  from  the  enemy. 
She  (Minerva)  is  a flash  of  light,  the  radiance  of  wisdom, 
and  if  she  participates  in  the  government  of  a state, 
she  is  its  shield  and  its  salvation.  Now,  therefore,  if 
you  inquire  of  her  descent,  it  is  from  Jove ; she  has  no 
mother,  for  she  sprang  from  the  head  of  Jupiter,  according 
to  the  witness  of  the  Orphic  poets  and  the  confirmation 
of  the  prophets.  Hence  this  saying,  1 1 came  forth  from 
the  mouth  of  Jupiter.  Before  the  worlds  were,  I was.’ 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION. 


i S i 


She  is,  as  it  were,  the  bi’eath  of  the  power  of  God  and 
like  a beam  of  the  brightness  of  the  Almighty.  . . . She 
is  radiant,  because  she  is  a spotless  mirror  of  the  majesty 
of  God,  and  she  is  the  emblem  of  his  bounty ; she  is  all- 
powerful,  for  she  is  unity,  and  she  is  able  to  accomplish 
all  things ; and  enduring  herself,  she  changes  all  things ; 
she  is  all  good,  for  she  goes  forth  to  the  righteous  among 
nations,  establishing  the  friends  of  God  and  the  prophets  ; 
she  is  pleasing  to  God,  since  he  loves  them  who  love 
wisdom ; she  is  incomparable,  for  she  is  more  beautiful 
than  the  sun ; and  if  we  liken  her  to  the  light  of  the  stars 
she  is  still  beyond  compare.  Those  who  behold  her  or 
her  similitude  are  filled  with  enchantment.  Hear  the 
words  of  Solomon : ‘ I have  preferred  her  before  empires 
and  thrones ; riches  are  nothing  in  comparison  to  her. 
There  is  gold  and  a multitude  of  rubies,  but  the  lips  of 
knowledge  are  a precious  jewel  (Prov.  xx.  15).  How 
much  better  is  it  to  get  wisdom  than  gold,  and  to  get 
understanding  rather  to  be  chosen  than  silver ! ’ ( ib . xvi. 
16).  She  is  an  inexhaustible  treasure  of  wealth,  and  he 
who  participates  in  her  benefits  attains  the  friendship  of 
God.  And  since  in  friendship  all  is  for  the  common 
good,  he  who  has  wisdom  is  rich.  What  can  Juno 
bestow  which  is  not  within  the  gift  of  Minerva  ? What 
are  the  beauties  of  Venus  which  thou  canst  not  behold 
in  Minerva  ? I have  loved  her  with  my  whole  soul  from 
my  youth  up.  ...  I have  addressed  myself  to  God,  im- 
ploring him ; I have  called  upon  him  out  of  the  depths  of 
my  soul,  ‘God  of  my  fathers,  merciful  Lord,  thou  who  hast 
made  all  things  by  thy  word,  and  who  hast  created  man, 
according  to  thy  wisdom,  that  he  may  rule  over  all  the 
creatures  which  thou  hast  made ; give  me  the  consort  of 
thy  throne,  give  me  Wisdom,  and  do  not  despise  thy 
servant.  Let  her  dwell  with  me,  and  work  with  me, 
acquaint  my  heart  with  Wisdom,  that  I may  know  where 
I am  found  wanting,  and  that  which  is  pleasing  to  thee, 
for  she  knows  all  and  comprehends  all  things ; she  will 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


182 

guide  my  actions  with  circumspection,  and  I shall  dwell 
in  her  keeping.’  Of  a certainty  she  is  sent  forth  by  the 
Father  of  all ; she  is  a most  fruitful  spirit,  and  he  sends 
her  forth  ; but  under  what  aspect  ? Truly,  in  such  wise 
as  our  spiritual  eye  is  able  to  discern,  dimly,  and  as  it 
were  in  twilight.  Like  the  sun,  she  is  unapproachable, 
inapprehensible,  lost  as  in  deep  concealment  and  abund- 
ance of  light.”  . . . This  and  the  succeeding  passage 
repeat  the  opening  of  the  oration.  The  three  modes  of 
perceiving  the  visible  sun  are  then  compared  with  the 
three  inodes  of  perceiving  the  sun  of  intelligence — in 
essence,  in  substance,  and  in  activity.  “ In  the  first,  the 
sun  of  the  intelligence  is  called  by  the  Cabalists  Sephirot- 
cochma ; in  the  second,  Pallas  or  Minerva,  receiving  in 
the  third  the  universal  name  of  Sophia.  In  the  first 
mode,  wisdom  is  not  acquired,  nor  imparted,  nor  compre- 
hended, for  it  is  removed  from  all  things.  Hear  what 
Job  says : “ But  where  shall  wisdom  be  found  ? and 
where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ? Man  knoweth  not 
the  price  thereof,  neither  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the 
living.  The  depth  saith,  It  is  not  in  me ; and  the  sea 
saith,  It  is  not  with  me.  ...  It  is  hid  from  the  eyes  of 
all  living,  and  kept  close  from  the  fowls  of  the  air. 
(That  is  to  say,  it  is  hidden  from  the  sons  of  God,  which 
are  the  stars,  and  from  the  watery  earths,  which  move 
in  the  firmament  and  describe  their  course  on  high). 
Destruction  and  death  say,  ‘ We  have  heard  the  fame 
thereof  with  our  ears.  God  understandeth  the  way 
thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the  place  thereof.’ 

“ In  the  second  mode,  Wisdom  is  apparent  in  the  shape 
and  body  of  all  things ; it  calls  upon  man  with  a thou- 
sand voices,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  earth.  For  all  things 
— the  stars,  animals,  all  bodies,  and  their  adornment — 
are  living  voices  of  wisdom,  the  token  and  work  of  God. 
They  manifest  the  most  high  Providence,  and  in  them, 
as  in  a book,  are  written  the  wisdom,  power,  and  bounty 
of  God.  For  the  invisible  being  of  God  is  perceived  and 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION. 


183 


recognised  by  that  which  he  has  created.  Hear  also 
what  the  Psalmist  saith,  ‘ The  heavens  declare  the  glory 
of  God,  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork. 
There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  is 
not  heard.  Their  line  is  gone  out  to  all  the  earth,  and 
their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world.’ 

“ In  the  third  mode,  Wisdom  is  implanted  within  the 
spirit : established  in  the  poop  of  the  soul,  guiding  the 
helm  of  the  ship,  which  is  tossed  hither  and  thither  on 
the  stormy  waves  of  life.  It  is,  moreover,  the  beacon  of 
a spirit  moving  on  the  face  of  the  darkness.  These  three 
abodes  has  Divine  Wisdom  : the  first  is  not  temporal,  but 
eternal,  and  the  very  seat  of  Eternity ; the  second,  or 
first-born  ( 'jorimogenitd ),*  is  the  whole  visible  world  ; a 
third,  the  second-born,  is  the  soul  of  man.  Of  the  first 
Job  says,  £ The  Lord  knoweth  their  dwelling-place.’  Of 
the  second,  Solomon,  £ I,  Wisdom,  dwell  in  the  high 
places,’ — that  is  to  say,  among  the  stars  and  in  the 
everlasting  firmament.  Of  the  third  he  says,  £ I dwell 
in  counsel  and  in  the  consideration  of  the  wise,  and  my 
delight  is  to  abide  among1  the  children  of  men.’  Here, 
then,  among  the  sons  of  men  Wisdom  has  built  herself 
a house  of  reason  and  design  (which  is  after  the  world), 
where  may  be  seen  the  shadow  and  faint  image  of  the 
first  temple  of  the  Archetype  and  the  Ideal,  which  is 
before  the  world,”  (united  with)  ££  the  sensible,  natural 
image,  the  image  according  to  the  senses  and  to  Nature, 
which  is  the  world. 

££  Here  she  has  hewn  for  herself  seven  columns,  namely, 
the  seven  liberal  arts,  which  are  grammar,  rhetoric  (with 
poesy),  logic,  mathematics,  physics,  ethics,  metaphysics. 
. . . Upon  these  seven  columns  Wisdom  has  built  her 
palace  in  earth  ; first  in  Egypt,  in  Assyria,  and  in  Chal- 
daea ; next,  under  Zoroaster,  with  the  priests  of  Persia ; 
later,  among  the  Gymnosophists  of  India,  and  with 
Orpheus  in  Thrace ; descending  among  the  Greeks  upon 
1 Unigenita  (W.  i.  261). 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


184 

Thales  and  the  other  sages,  among  the  Italians  with 
Lucretius,  Archimedes,  Empedocles,  and  others.  And, 
lastly,  it  is  found  among  the  Germans  of  our  own  times, 
moving,  with  Jove  and  with  the  seal  of  empire,  from  east 
to  west ; 1 for  it  is  the  image  of  a celestial  palace,  which 
follows  the  change  and  progress  of  the  sun. 

“ And  yon,  were  you  but  to  search  the  treasures  you 
possess,  you  would  not  think  me  proue  to  flattery,  for 
you  are  enlightened  beyond  all  other  nations.  For  since 
your  country  attained  to  the  imperial  dignity,  there  have 
been  found  among  you  many  men  great  in  art  and  in 
inventive  genius,  the  like  of  whom  there  is  not  among 
any  other  people.  Who  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
Albertus  Magnus  the  Suabian  ? Is  he  not  one  greater 
than  Aristotle,  whose  secret  disciple  he  was  accounted  ? 
And  who,  ye  gods,  who  shall  be  likened  to  Cusa  ? Is 
he  not  so  much  the  greater  because  he  is  accessible  but 
to  the  few  ? Had  not  his  priestly  trappings  checked  the 
advancement  of  his  soul,  would  he  not  have  been,  not 
the  equal  of  Pythagoras  merely,  but  one  far  greater 
than  he  ? ” 

A panegyric  is  next  pronounced  upon  “ the  sublime 
genius  ” of  Palingenius  ; upon  Paracelsus,  “ that  wondrous 
physician,  the  rival  of  Hippocrates' — what  would  not  the 
gift  of  sober  investigation  have  accomplished  in  him,  had 
he  not  given  the  reins  to  his  fantastic  humour  ? I omit 
many  who  followed  and  still  follow  the  Greek  and  Roman 
poets.  Hath  not  Wisdom  raised  her  palace  among  you  ? 
And  let  not  kings  envy  kings  the  sacred  knowledge  of 
the  stars,  that  lofty  glance  of  princes  into  heaven,  which 
went  up,  as  it  were,  from  vessels  of  divine  wisdom  among 
the  leaders  of  the  early  nations,  according  to  the  saying 
of  the  poet  Manilius,  ‘ that  kings  were  first  deemed 

1 “ Westward  the  star  of  empire  spread  from  east  to  west,  and  it  is 
takes  its  way.” — Bishop  Berkeley.  from  the  moryen  land,  or  eastern 

This  curious  progression  occurs  countries,  that  the  seeds  of  learn- 
throughout  Nature.  Towns  usually  ing  travel  to  the  virgin  soil  of  the 
increase  on  the  west  side,  colonies  West. 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION. 


iSS 

worthy  to  touch  the  high  things  nearest  heaven  and  to 
behold  the  fates  linked  to  the  moving  stars.’ 1 

“ For  the  Egyptians  held  Hermes  Trismegistus  and 
others  in  veneration  for  their  high  offices  and  great 
wisdom,  placing  them,  when  they  died,  on  high  among 
the  stars ; the  Greeks  also  accounted  Perseus,  Cheiron, 
and  Hercules  for  constellations  ; and  in  Germany  there 
are  princes  who  guard  the  secrets  of  the  stars.  The 
Emperors  Charles  V.  and  Maximilian,  Rudolf,  and  the 
kings  of  Denmark  and  Norway,  Christian  III.  and 
Frederick  II.,  are  not  only  the  patrons,  promoters,  and 
restorers  of  the  science,  but  they  are  the  depositors 
of  that  which  has  been  sepulchred  for  many  ages,  after 
having  flourished  in  the  time  of  the  Chaldeans.”  Next, 
the  Landgrave  William 2 of  Hesse  receives  commenda- 
tion, as  one  who  sees  with  the  eye  of  his  own  under- 
standing, and  perceives  the  justice  of  the  Copernican 
theory.  “ Here,  therefore,”  he  repeats,  “ Wisdom  has 
built  her  house.  Grant,  O Jupiter!  to  the  Germans  to 
know  their  own  strength  and  to  practise  the  virtue  of 
abstinence.3  Grant  them  grace  to  aim  at  lofty  things, 
and  they  shall  be  not  men,  but  gods.  For  the  spirit  of 
this  nation  is  divine,  and  vast  its  strength,  when  inclina- 
tion goes  hand  in  hand  with  study.  But  whom  have  we 
passed  by  in  silence  ? Who  but  he,  the  mighty  hero, 
armed  to  the  teeth  with  club  and  sword.  He  resisted 
the  devouring  monster,  half  fox  and  half  lion,  that  vicar 
of  the  princes  of  hell,  who  by  cunning  and  violence  pol- 
luted the  world,  and,  under  the  cloak  of  divine  wisdom 
and  of  a simplicity  which  was  pleasing  to  God,  imposed 
on  men  a superstitious  and  barbarous  worship.  Who 

1 “ The  stars  above  us  govern  our  tion  Aquila,  “ the  divine  and  heroic 

conditions.” — King  Lear.  bird,  which  is  the  type  of  empire,” 

2 William  IY.  of  Hesse-Cassel  to  “ Germany,  the  wine  - bibber,” 

(1567-1592),  the  friend  and  protec-  where  “inns  are  more  plenteous 
tor  of  Tycho-Brahe.  than  rooms.”  The  cup,  moreover, 

3 In  the  Expulsion  (W.  ii.  212)  we  is  dedicated  by  him  to  the  service  of 
find  Bruno  banishes  the  constella-  the  Teutons  (W.  i.  247). 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


1 86 

but  he  went  forth  single-handed  to  encounter  that  raven- 
ous beast  and  to  raise  up  the  fallen  and  corrupted  age  ? 
Whence  came  he  ? From  Germany,  from  the  banks  of  the 
river  Elbe,  from  the  abundance  of  the  springs  of  living- 
water.  Out  of  the  depths  of  Orcus,  your  Hercules  drew 
the  monster  with  his  triple  crowns,  triumphing  over  the 
steely  doors  of  hell,  and  over  the  city  guarded  by  three- 
fold walls,  and  enfolded  nine  times  in  the  streams  of 
Styx.  Thou  hast  seen  the  light,  0 Luther,  thou  hast 
seen  it ; thou  hast  heard  the  awakening  spirit  of  God, 
and  hast  not  withstood  it ; thou  hast  fought  with  the 
adversary  which  dwelt  safely  among  the  mighty  upon 
earth  : with  the  power  of  the  Word  thou  didst  encounter 
and  drive  him  back,  and  the  trophies  of  the  insolent 
enemy  thou  hast  laid  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of 
God. 

“ Here  hath  Wisdom  built  her  house,  here  hath  she 
poured  out  wine  for  her  libation,  and  here  she  bids  all 
men  enter  in  to  her  supper, — Italians,  and  men  from 
France,  Spain,  England,  dwellers  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  in  the  south  country,  and  in  the  polar  isles. 
Among  them,  I came  hither  also,  that  I might  visit  this 
palladium  and  behold  this  house  of  Wisdom,  for  whom 
I suffer  poverty  willingly,  with  envy  and  hatred,  and  the 
execration  and  ingratitude  of  those  I was  wont  to  serve 
or  desired  to  serve  ; for  they  whom  I loved  turned  upon 
me,  and  those  who  owe  me  honour  cast  me  off  and 
slander  me. 

“ But  I will  not  be  abased  by  insult,  nor  by  the  scorn 
of  the  vile  and  ignorant ; for  though  they  wear  the  garb 
of  men,  at  heart  they  are  wild  beasts  and  full  of  evil 
and  arrogance.  Therefore  I will  not  shrink  from  grief 
and  banishment,  because  labour  aided  me,  and  sorrow 
gave  me  counsel,  and  out  of  exile  came  the  lesson  of 
adversity  ; for  in  the  suffering  which  endures  but  for  a 
moment  I have  found  length  of  rest ; out  of  my  light 
affliction  came  the  fulness  of  joy,  and  in  the  barrenness 


VALEDICTORY  ORATION.  187 

of  exile  were  the  consolations  of  my  kindred  and  my 
country.  . . . 

“ For  I came  to  you  a stranger  and  a pilgrim,  outlawed, 
the  sport  of  fate,  small  of  stature,  poor  in  fortune  and  in 
defenders,  oppressed  by  the  hatred  of  the  multitude,  and 
despised  by  the  ignoble  herd,  who  look  for  merit  to  be 
ushered  in  amid  the  applause  of  their  fellows,  and  with 
sounding  gold  and  tinkling  silver. 

“ You,  0 most  learned,  grave,  and  courteous  senators, 
do  not  despise  me ; you  have  not  rejected  the  Nolan 
philosophy,  which  is  not  altogether  alien  to  the  philosophy 
of  your  own  nation.  Nay,  I had  liberty  to  teach,  and 
for  the  space  of  almost  two  years  I shared  the  protec- 
tion of  your  domestic  deities,  and  I received  generous 
entertainment  at  your  hands.  Lending  no  ear  to  my 
enemies,  you  displayed  the  virtues  of  your  courtesy  and 
forbearance  to  the  whole  of  the  world  ; and  when  I signi- 
fied my  desire  to  depart,  you  came  in  numbers  to  hear 
me  ; not  your  youths  only,  but  studious  men  and  full  of 
academic  honours.  How,  0 Jove,  shall  I declare  my 
gratitude  ? 

“ Let  me  invoke  the  gods  of  the  elements,  the  tutelary 
deities  of  the  stars  and  stainless  skies.  I beseech  you,  ye 
nymphs,  dryads,  and  hamadryads,  dwellers  in  those  woods 
whose  spicy  roof-trees  have  so  often  yielded  me  shelter ; 
and  you,  ye  lawgivers  like  Numa,  ye  mighty  emperors 
and  kings,  ye  poets  like  Virgil,  ye  orators  like  Cicero, 
give  your  benediction  to  the  land,  and  bid  it  bear  laurels, 
myrtles,  clasping  ivy,  the  juicy  vine,  the  blessed  olive, 
and  the  palm  of  victory.  Ye  fauns,  ye  satyrs,  and  ye 
sylvan  gods,  tend  the  fields,  govern  the  plains,  foster  the 
herds,  and  make  the  land  fruitful  ; not  alone  in  heroes, 
but  in  such  blessings  as  crown  the  rich  Campagna,  Araby, 
and  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides.  Ye,  too,  nymphs 
and  nereids  of  that  stream  on  whose  verge  I could  cry 
peace  and  gladly  breathe  my  soul  into  the  air,  keep 
watch  and  ward  over  the  land ; let  the  river  run  with 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


i S3 

silver ; inlay  her  shores  with  gold,  and  bid  her  triumph 
over  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  the  Tigris,  the  Rhone,  the 
Po,  and  the  insolent  Tiber.  And  thou,  Eye  of  the  World, 
Light  of  the  Universe,  thou  who  turnest  darkness  into 
light,  return  and  bring  this  nation  happier  days,  months, 
years,  and  ages.  And  thou,  Bootes,  untiring  guardian 
of  earth,  thou  who  guidest  Charles’s  wain,  and  never 
turnest  thy  watchful  eye  from  man,  deliver  the  land  from 
bears,  wolves,  lions,  and  all  ravening  beasts,  which 
wander  in  the  darkness.  And  may  the  Omnipotent 
Father  of  all,  the  God  of  gods,  under  whose  sway  is  all 
good  and  evil  fortune,  mine  and  yours  alike,  may  he 
answer  and  confirm  our  prayers.” 


( 189  ) 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

“ That  knowledge  only  which  is  of  Being  and  the  unseen  can  make  the 
soul  look  upwards.” — Plato. 


Prague,  1588.  Helmstedt,  January  13,  1589. 

Immediately  on  pronouncing  this  oration  Bruno  quitted 
Wittenberg,  and  the  way  by  water  being  cheaper  than 
by  land,  he  probably  went  by  the  Elbe  to  Prague,  then 
the  seat  of  a purely  German  university  and  the  residence 
of  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II.  The  Nolan  arrived  in 
Prague  towards  Easter  1588,  but  the  records  of  the 
university  for  this  period  are  missing,  and  the  exact  date 
of  his  matriculation  is  not  known.  He  was  no  doubt  too 
sanguine  in  looking  for  liberty  of  philosophy  as  his  right 
in  an  age  when  it  was  not  even  accorded  as  a privilege ; 
but  the  lingering  and  impressive  words  in  which  he  paid 
his  tribute  to  the  heroes  of  German  science,  and  to  Ger- 
many as  the  country  which  had  harboured  him  in  happier 
days,  the  memory  he  preserved  of  the  trees  in  whose 
shadow  he  had  found  repose,  and  of  the  stream  on  the 
banks  of  which  he  had  breathed  liberty  with  the  air, 
prove  his  grateful  spirit,  and  justify  in  some  measure  the 
hope  he  entertained  of  finding  comfort  and  employment 
in  Prague,  such  as  he  had  received  in  Germany  and  in 
France.  Many  circumstances  might  have  assisted  in  pro- 
curing him  a welcome : the  well-known  inclination  of 
Rudolph  II.  for  science  ; the  protection  of  the  Spanish 
ambassador,  who  was  high  in  the  Emperor’s  favour ; and 
the  memory  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  who  may  have  assisted 
the  Nolan  with  letters  to  the  court.  Some  twelve  years 
earlier  Sidney  had  been  sent  by  Elizabeth  to  this  prince 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


i go 

to  communicate  her  condolence  on  the  death  of  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian.  The  young  Emperor  was  at  that 
period  mild  and  humane,  a lover  of  the  arts,  and  pos- 
sessed of  more  than  a fair  share  of  credulity.  “ The 
Emperor,”  writes  Sidney  to  Walsingham,  who  was  then 
the  Secretary  of  State,  “ is  holy  (wholly)  by  his  inclination 
given  to  warres,  few  of  words,  sullain  of  disposition,  very 
secrete  and  resolute;  nothinge  the  manners  his  father  had 
in  winninge  men  in  his  behaviour,  but  yet  constante  in 
keeping  them  ; and  such  an  one,  though  he  promise  not 
much  outwardly,  but,  as  the  Latins  say,  aliquid  in  recessu 
— extremely  spaniolated.” 

Of  Rudolph  II.  may  be  said  what  in  alter  times  was 
said  of  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales — “ His  condescension 
was  such  that  it  led  him  into  very  bad  company.”  At 
this  court  the  renowned  Dr.  Dee  found  refuge,  and  in 
1584  he  was  permitted  to  dedicate  a work  on  magic  to 
the  Empei’or,  who  spent  days  in  attendance  on  the  cru- 
cible or  in  the  society  of  locksmiths.  His  nights  were 
devoted  to  drawing  horoscopes,  and  he  passed  so  much 
time  in  the  stables  that  he  wore  a groom’s  dress  to  escape 
observation.  To  this  prince  Bruno  addressed  a small 
work,  entitled  One  Hundred  and  Sixty  Theses  against  the 
Mathematicians  and  Philosophers  of  the  Age,  receiving  a 
counter-present  of  three  hundred  dollars.  The  dedication 
breathes  the  intrepid  spirit  which  had  already  so  often 
shown  itself.  Bruno  once  more  announces  it  as  his 
mission  to  free  the  souls  of  men  and  to  triumph  over  the 
ignorance  which  accounts  itself  as  learned ; he  laments 
the  detestable  strife  of  creeds,  and  he  proclaims  charity 
and  love  to  be  the  only  true  religion. 

If,  he  said,  the  distinction  between  light  and  darkness 
were  recorded  by  Nature,  that  ancient  conflict  of  opinions 
for  which  generations  have  persecuted  each  other  would 
come  to  an  end  ; nor  would  man  lift  his  hands  to  heaven, 
thinking  himself  the  sole  possessor  of  the  truth,  and  be- 
lieving that  God,  though  the  Father  and  Giver  of  life 
eternal  to  him,  is  an  inexorable  and  cruel  judge,  the 


PRAGUE,  1588. 


191 

Avenger,  who  awards  eternal  death  to  others.  Whence 
it  follows,  that  whilst  the  various  races  and  sects  of  men 
have  each  their  own  worship  and  discipline,  every  one 
usurps  for  himself  the  highest  place,  and  holds  in  con- 
tempt the  worship  and  discipline  of  others.  Hence  pro- 
ceed wars  and  the  breaking  of  natural  bonds ; hence 
those  men  who  by  means  of  imposture  lift  themselves  on 
high  and  give  themselves  out  to  be  messengers  from  God; 
hence  the  innumerable  ills  which  afflict  the  world,  because 
of  which  it  may  be  said  that  man  is  more  hostile  to  man 
than  to  all  the  other  animals ; and  hence  the  law  of  love 
made  known  amongst  the  nations  is  now  fallen  into 
neglect ; while  men  do  not  seek  to  practise  that  general 
philanthropy  which  makes  them  love  their  enemies,  and 
likens  them  to  God,  who  suffers  his  sun  to  shine  upon 
the  good  and  upon  the  wicked,  and  the  rain  of  his  mercy 
he  showers  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust.  “ This  is  the 
religion,”  he  adds,  “ which,  without  any  controversy  and 
beyond  all  dispute,  I observe,  as  well  by  the  assured 
resolution  of  my  soul  as  by  reason  of  the  customs  of  my 
country  and  of  all  nations.”  The  battle  between  light 
and  darkness,  between  knowledge  and  ignorance,  rages 
eternally ; but  by  the  hand  of  truth  and  by  the  leading 
of  the  light  which  is  divine,  the  philosopher  overcomes 
hate  and  envy,  clamour  and  insult,  though  in  peril  of  his 
life  from  the  people,  in  themselves  dull  and  void  of 
reason,  and  stirred  up  by  the  fathers  who  have  graduated 
in  the  senate  of  ignorance.  He  holds  it  right  not  to 
yield  to  the  habit  of  faith,  but  to  doubt  all  things,  even 
that  which  others  receive  for  established  truth.  For  it  is 
contrary  to  the  dignity  of  human  freedom  to  follow  the  herd, 
and  he  would  look  upon  himself  as  ungrateful  and  unworthy 
of  the  light  given  to  him  by  God  if  he  came  forth  except 
as  the  adversary  of  the  rusty  learning  of  the  schools.1 

1 Berti,  who  cannot  be  called  a fess  himself  the  follower  of  a Christi- 
friendly  critic,  says  of  this  dedica-  anity  which  is  found  in  all  religions, 
tion,  “ Here  Bruno  appears  to  pro-  and  therefore  excludes  none.” 


192 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  farewell  address  to 
Wittenberg,  the  name  of  Rudolf  is  mentioned  by  Bruno 
with  praise ; and  the  Emperor  himself,  though  he  ranked 
among  what  are  called  the  Middlings  by  a late  English 
writer,  was  ready  to  help  genius,  partly  no  doubt  from  a 
shrewd  disposition  to  help  himself ; for  he  was  one  of 
those  princes  “ whose  lofty  glance  searches  the  skies  ” 
(Or.  Valed ),  and  to  the  secrets  of  astrology  and  alchemy 
he  looked  for  the  good  fortune  which  fate  denied  to  his 
talents.  Great  wit,  we  are  told  by  the  poet,  is  nearly 
allied  to  madness,  and  astronomy  is  not  far  removed  from 
astrology.  “ Nature,”  wrote  Kepler,  “which  has  conferred 
upon  every  animal  the  means  of  subsistence,  has  given 
astrology  as  an  adjunct  and  ally  to  astronomy;”  and  it  would 
have  been  a hard  matter  had  the  Emperor,  among  the 
crowd  of  charlatans  and  magicians  by  which  his  court  was 
infested,  not  lighted  upon  some  names  likely  to  give  it 
lustre.  Tycho  Brahe,  who  is  called  by  Bruno  the  prince 
of  the  astronomers  of  his  time  (JDe  Mon.  167),  was  per- 
mitted to  follow  his  calling  in  Prague  ; and  here  the  great 
Kepler  spent  eleven  years  in  developing  his  poetic  theories 
on  the  universe.  How  far  he  was  indebted  to  the  studies 
of  his  predecessor  it  is  hard  to  say.  A letter  is  extant 
(Galileo  Opere  Compiute,  vol.  viii.  p.  59)  in  which  Martin 
Hasdale  intimates  to  Galileo  the  regret  of  Kepler  for 
having  omitted  in  the  Nuncio  Siclerco  1 to  make  “ lauda- 
tory commemoration  ” of  the  Nolan. 

Bruno  did  not  arrive  at  the  court  of  Rudolph  II. 


1 In  another  letter,  written  by 
Dr.  Brengger,  and  dated  7th  March 
1608  ( Joannis  Kepleri  Astronomi 
Opera  Omnia,  ed.  Frisch,  vol.  ii.  p. 
591),  we  find,  “They  write  of  Bruno 
prunis  tostis,  which  I take  it  is  that 
he  was  burnt  ; is  this  certain,  and 
when  and  for  what  reason  ? Tell  me, 
for  I have  compassion  for  him.” 
On  the  5th  April  Kepler  replied, 
“ I know  from  Wacker  that  Bruno 
was  burnt  in  Rome,  and  that  he 
bore  the  anguish  with  fortitude, 


declaring  that  all  religions  are  vain, 
and  that  God  is  one  with  the 
world,  the  circle,  and  the  point.” 
'When  this  extravagant  assertion 
reached  Brengger,  he  shrewdly  re- 
plied, “ What  advantage  could 
Bruno  reap  from  enduring  torments 
for  the  sake  of  such  crazy  imagina- 
tions ? ( insania ).  If  there  exists  no 
God  to  avenge  wickedness,  as  he  be- 
lieved, could  he  not  with  impunity 
have  feigned  one  and  so  saved  his 
life  ? ” 


THE  “ LULLIAN  ARCHITECTURE .” 


193 


altogether  unbefriended.  Attracted  by  the  doubtful  fame 
of  the  Emperor,  and  hoping  no  doubt  that  astronomy  and 
the  art  of  Lully  might  receive  the  welcome  given  by  the 
court  to  the  occult  sciences,  Bruno,  moreover,  had  a right 
to  expect  that  his  name  would  be  known  at  Prague,  where 
Fabrizio  Mordente  (on  whom  it  will  be  remembered  the 
Nolan  had  written  a laudatory  pamphlet  two  years  before) 
held  the  post  of  astronomer- royal.  Accordingly  we  find 
that  the  dedication  of  two  small  Latin  works  on  the  Art 
of  Memory  was  accepted  by  the  Spanish  ambassador  San 
Clemente,  “ to  whom,”  says  Bruno  (Gfr.  604),  “ the  Art 
of  Lully  was  dear.” 

These  small  divided  chapters  on  mnemonics,  or  “ mne- 
monic proposals,”  were  printed  as  Bruno  moved  his 
quarters,  partly  to  explain  his  system  and  to  aid  his 
pupils  at  the  various  academies,  aud  partly  to  bring 
the  art  as  he  pursued  and  developed  it  into  public 
notice.  Substantially  they  contained  little  that  was  new. 
The  Lullian  Architecture  was  presented  under  different 
aspects  and  with  fresh  dedications  to  suit  its  various 
patrons  ; but  in  this  instance,  the  little  work  sent  into  the 
world  under  cover  of  the  envoy  of  Philip  II.  was  the  same 
at  all  points  as  that  printed  at  Wittenberg  under  the 
title  of  the  Combinatory  Lamp  of  Lully , except  for  the 
addition  of  a few  fresh  pages  by  way  of  dedication  and 
preface.  The  Art  of  Lully,  the  improvement  of  which 
had  occupied  the  whole  of  his  life,  was,  in  Bruno’s  opinion, 
a wrondrous  specific  for  purifying  and  strengthening  the 
memory,  for  reviving  the  invention  and  for  furthering 
description  and  argument.  Accordingly,  a forest,  a hunt, 
game,  hounds,  nets,  arms,  every  symbol  was  employed  to 
rouse  the  interest  of  his  pupils  in  this  epitome  of  the 
universe.  The  science  of  Lully  is  raised  on  one  founda- 
tion, which  is  eternal  or  universal,  and  tends  to  one  end, 
which  is  the  Being  of  beings.  Thus  it  forms  a circle,  the 
beginning  and  end  of  which  is  God.  This  idea  of  Being 
will  be  found  to  lie  at  the  base  of  Bruno’s  calculations ; 


194 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


lie  divides  it  into  nine,  perhaps  in  honour  of  the  Muses, 
perhaps  because  Dante  wrote  of  nine  sciences  and 
Ptolemy  accepted  nine  heavens ; and  Bruno  looked  to 
the  Grand  Art  to  display  at  a glance  the  unity  of  Being 
and  its  branches. 

He  held  thought  to  be  a representation  within  us,  the 
inner  writing  of  that  which  is  written  by  Nature  in  out- 
ward things.  These,  though  exterior  to  us,  are  reflected 
within  us  ; and  our  power  to  receive  them  and  to  arrange 
them  is  the  same  as  the  power  of  Nature,  which  receives 
within  itself  and  reflects  in  its  bosom  shadows  of  the  vast 
and  glorious  reality  which  is  one  with  God. 

The  city  of  Prague,  however,  offered  the  wandering 
scholar  no  inducement  to  lengthen  his  stay.  The  comfort 
and  encouragement  of  pupils,  so  dear  to  his  heart,  were 
denied  him,  and  after  six  or  seven  months  (Doc.  ix.)  he 
soon  found  it  advisable  to  quit  the  city. 

He  left  Prague  towards  the  close  of  1588,  and  making 
halts  by  the  way,  of  which  no  record  is  left,  he  turned 
his  steps  towards  Helmstedt,  in  the  hope  of  finding 
succour  and  advancement  in  the  flourishing  academy  of 
Julius.  The  university  in  which  Bruno  next  tried  his 
fortune  was  then  the  newest  of  the  great  German  schools. 
Founded  in  1576  it  soon  became  the  rallying-point  of 
Protestantism.  Its  professors,  animated  by  the  liberal 
spirit  of  their  patron,  Duke  Julius  of  Brunswick- Wolfen- 
biittel,  taught  the  new  doctrines  with  enthusiasm.  On 
entering  upon  their  course  they  had  to  reckon  with  cer- 
tain antique  prejudices ; but  these  once  overcome,  fair 
sailing  under  royal  auspices  began. 

In  a few  imperious  words  the  old  Duke  had  signified 
his  intention  to  break  loose  from  the  thraldom  of  the 
theologians.  “ We  will  not,”  he  said  in  conference  on 
the  6th  of  July  1 582,1  “ be  ruled  by  the  theologians,  for 
they,  as  well  as  we,  are  subject  to  the  will  of  God.  He 

1 Bodemann  in  his  article  on  Duke  ZeitscTirift  f.  dcutsche  Culturge- 
Julius  of  Brunswick  in  Muller’s  schichte,  vol.  i.,  1872,  p.  197-238. 


HELMSTEDT,  1589. 


L95 

does  not  purpose  to  fill  tils  mansions  on  high  with  theo- 
logians only,  nor  did  he  die  for  them  only,  but  for 
all  men  upon  earth,  without  distinction  or  differ- 
ence ; heaven  is  for  us  as  well  as  for  them.  More- 
over, we  declare  them  to  be  as  far  asunder  from  each 
other  as  heaven  and  earth,  since  there  is  not  one  of  them 
can  dwell  in  love  and  harmony  with  his  brother,  but  each 
and  all  strive  after  the  world  and  the  goods  of  the  world, 
following  in  many  things  the  thoughts  and  desires  of 
mortal  men.  We,  however,  are  not  minded  to  be  ruled 
by  theologians  who  stand  with  one  foot  in  the  pulpit  and 
the  other  in  the  Duke’s  council-chamber.  These  doings 
are  not  for  us,  and  we  eschew  them,  and  we  admonish  all 
other  princes  from  our  soul  to  resist  the  theologians  to 
the  death,  lest  the  land  be  given  over  to  war  and  blood- 
shed. For  churches  are  neither  built  nor  maintained  by 
haughty  and  envious  misdoers ; and  the  hearts  of  these 
theologians  are  full  of  hatred  and  malice,  while  they 
strive  to  establish  the  formula  of  concord  among  their 
neighbours.”  It  is  one  of  the  strange  contradictions  of 
human  nature  that  the  distaste  of  this  prince  for  bigots 
stopped  short  at  his  own  person.  A passionate  Lutheran, 
it  was  in  order  to  protect  his  people  in  their  youth  from 
the  inroads  of  the  Papacy,  and  to  ground  them  firmly  in 
the  tenets  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  that  he  founded  the 
university,  over  which  he  watched  with  deep  and  unre- 
mitting care,  relaxing  his  naturally  miserly  habits  in 
order  to  provide  munificently  for  the  foundation,  and  to 
furnish  it  with  a costly  library  ; although  it  was  spitefully 
said  by  a professor  of  the  neighbouring  town  of  Marburg 
that  the  Duke  set  up  his  school  as  much  from  opposition 
to  the  views  of  his  late  father,  who  was  a bigotted 
Catholic,  as  to  aid  the  Reformation.  The  Duke  rested 
neither  night  nor  day  till  the  benefits  of  learning  were 
secured  to  his  people.  The  university  soon  became  noted 
as  the  resort  of  princes  and  of  many  distinguished 
foreigners.  Its  delightful  situation  between  the  banks 


196 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


of  the  Lower  Elbe  and  the  Weser,  the  fame  of  its  pro- 
fessors, on  whom,  since  they  held  a six  months’  contract, 
the  rust  of  the  schools  could  scarcely  fasten  ; above  all,  the 
freedom  allowed  to  the  reformed  religion,  combined  to 
attract  a numerous  and  wealthy  concourse  of  students. 

Unfortunately  the  time  arrived  too  soon  for  the  re- 
formed Church  to  arrogate  to  itself  not  merely  spiritual 
but  temporal  dominion.  The  history  of  theology  became 
the  history  of  the  German  universities,  and  while  at  Tub- 
ingen all  heads  were  busy  with  the  ubiquity  of  Christ, 
the  ruler  of  Helmstedt  made  a solemn  declaration  “ that 
he  could  not  endure  a Calvinist  ; nay,  had  his  consort 
a son  who  was  a Calvinist,  he  should  be  disowned  and 
called  the  offspring  of  the  devil.”  Stern  Protestant  as  he 
was,  Duke  Julius  was  not  without  liberal  sentiments.  He 
sought  to  pass  a law  favouring  the  Jews  ; and  he  per- 
mitted his  heir,  then  a lad  of  fourteen,  to  become  Bishop 
of  Halberstadt,  where  he  was  inducted  with  the  full  Papal 
rites,  while  at  the  same  time  two  younger  princes  sub- 
mitted to  the  tonsure  in  return  for  church-lands  which  for 
some  time  had  been  alienated  from  the  ducal  family  of 
Brunswick. 

In  1589  the  University  of  Helmstedt  supported  fifty 
professors  and  had  matriculated  some  five  thousand 
scholars.  On  their  installation  the  professors  were  re- 
quired to  take  an  oath  to  “ maintain  concord  and  peace 
among  their  fellows,  to  hurt  no  man’s  dignity,  and  to  give 
no  occasion  for  discord ; and  (which  God  in  his  mercy 
forbid)  should  matter  for  dispute  arise,  to  do  all  things 
possible  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  true  end  of  the  law, 
which  is  peace,  and  brotherly  affection.”  In  what  spirit 
these  excellent  recommendations  were  followed,  the  history 
of  the  University  of  Helmstedt  (Henke,  Georg  Calixtus 
und  seine  Zeit , Halle,  1853)  remains  to  prove.  Eye  and 
brain  alike  weary  in  following  the  trivial  contentions 
which  lacerated  the  academic  body ; for  these  learned 
professors  were  distracted  by  vanity  and  intolerance, 


HELMSTEDT,  ijSg. 


197 


and  completely  given  over  to  the  proverbial  qmrelle  alle- 
mande. 

At  the  turn  of  the  year  Bruno  was  in  Helmstedt,  where 
he  matriculated  on  the  13th  January  1589.1  After  the 
lapse  of  a few  months,  on  the  3d  May  1589,  Duke 
Julius  died,  and  the  Nolan  was  again  thrown  upon  his 
resources  by  the  death  of  a protector.  The  academy 
appointed  four  days,  from  June  8 th  to  the  1 ith,  on  which 
to  deliver  funeral  orations  in  memory  of  its  founder;  and 
Bruno,  on  account  of  the  favour  shown  him  by  the  late 
Duke,  was  permitted  to  join  in  this  ceremony.  His 
oration  at  the  close  of  the  proceedings  was  shortly  after 
printed.  On  the  1st  of  July,  before  the  assembled 
university,  he  pronounced  his  eulogium  on  the  Duke, 
praising  the  propitious  fate,  which,  after  he  had  suffered 
many  adversities  and  much  tribulation  for  the  cause 
of  truth,  had  at  length  brought  him  to  a land  of 
liberty.  “ Remember,  0 Nolan  ! ” he  cried,  “ remember 
that  when,  torn  from  thy  country,  thy  labours,  and  thy 
friends,  thou  wast  an  exile  for  love  of  truth,  this  country 
received  thee  as  a citizen.  There,  thou  wert  exposed 
to  the  fang  of  the  Roman  wolf ; here,  thou  art  a free 
man.  There,  thou  wert  the  bondsman  of  a vain  and 
superstitious  worship ; here,  thou  art  encouraged  to  follow 
the  rites  of  a reformed  religion.  There,  thou  wert  dead 
under  tyranny ; here,  thou  art  alive  under  the  rule  of  a 


1 It  has  been  affirmed  by  several 
biographers  that  Bruno  was  called 
by  Duke  Julius  from  Prague  in  order 
to  act  as  tutor  to  the  heir-apparent. 
No  evidence  of  this  fact  is  forth- 
coming, although  it  is  quite  possible 
that  Bruno  may  have  given  the 
Prince,  then  twenty-five  years  old, 
instruction  in  astronomy  and  in  the 
Lulliau  system  of  mnemonics.  The 
words  of  Bruno  in  the  opening  of 
the  funeral  oration,  “Not  chance, 
but  Providence  brought  me  hither,” 
seem  to  prove  that  he  did  not  arrive 
at  Helmstedt  on  the  invitation  of 
the  Duke. 


The  following  is  a copy  of  the 
entry  of  matriculation  as  it  is  given 
by  Professor  Sigwart : — 15S9,  Jan. 
13.- — Jordanus  Brunus  Nolanus, 
Italus. — M.  Justus  Meierus  Nonio- 
magus,  Geldrus,  Grat.” 

No  other  person  was  entered  on 
that  date  : the  word  Grat.  denotes 
that  the  reception  of  the  person 
against  whose  name  it  stands,  was 
free  of  expense.  Inquiry  made  at 
Wolfenbuttel  results  in  a courteous 
reply  from  Dr.  Yon.  Heinemann, 
the  Ducal  librarian,  that  there  are  no 
unpublished  documents  relating  to 
Bruno  in  that  place. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


19S 

gentle  and  lramane  prince,  and  loaded  with  favour  and  with 
honours.  To  him,  as  to  thy  true  sovereign,  thy  protector 
and  thy  benefactor,  thou  shalt  fulfil  the  obligations  im- 
posed on  thee  by  thy  gratitude.  Here  the  Muses,  whose 
freedom  is  ensured  by  the  law  of  Nature,  by  the  right 
of  nations,  and  by  the  just  demands  of  civilisation,  dwell 
in  peace  and  liberty  under  the  safeguard  of  a high-minded 
prince  ; while  in  Italy  and  Spain  they  are  trodden  under 
foot  by  a vile  disorderly  priesthood;  in  France  they  are 
subjected  to  the  evils  of  civil  war;  in  the  Netherlands  they 
are  cast  down  and  afflicted,  and  in  other  regions  of  Germany 
they  languish  miserably.” 

Henry  Julius,  who  now  ascended  the  throne,  was  that 
Bishop  of  Halberstadt  who,  according  to  a preacher  of 
the  time,  by  receiving  the  tonsure  had  been  sacrificed  to 
Moloch.  The  liberal  education  which  the  old  Duke  had 
never  enjoyed  he  was  careful  to  give  to  his  son,  and  the 
fame  of  the  young  prince’s  learning  had  spread  to  all  the 
courts  and  universities  in  Germany.  The  strife  of  the  time 
and  the  dissensions  of  creeds,  which,  we  are  told  by  Hazlitt, 
sharpen  the  understanding  and  brace  the  will,  had  their 
due  effect  upon  his  nature.  He  had  experimentalised  in 
alchemy  till  he  had  thoroughly  searched  out  its  weakness; 
theologic  quarrels,  the  favourite  pastime  of  princes  of  that 
age,  had  no  charm  for  him;  he  learnt  thirteen  trades; 
he  was  a better  writer  of  original  German  plays  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries,  according  to  the  historian  Gervinus; 
and  he  was  learned  alike  in  Greek  philosophy  and  in 
Roman  law.  Connected  by  marriage  with  the  more  luxu- 
rious courts  of  England  and  of  Denmark,1  he  loved  state; 
and  he  expended  the  resources  husbanded  by  his  father  in 
raising  palaces  and  public  buildings,  and  in  maintaining 
a large  army. 

Eighty  dollars  “ of  that  country  ” (Doc.  ix.)  were 
handed  to  Bruno  in  token  of  the  young  Duke’s  thanks  for 

1 Henry  Julius  was  present  at  the  of  Denmark,  with  James  VI.,  No- 
marriage  of  his  sister-in-law,  Anne  vember  23,  1589. 


HELMSTEDT,  OCTOBER  6 , ij8g. 


199 


tlie  oration.  But,  in  placing  his  reliance  wholly  on  the 
protection  of  Henry  Julius,  the  Nolan  proved  to  be 
reckoning  without  his  host.  “ Where  Lutheranism  pre- 
vails,” Erasmus  wrote,  “ letters  are  destroyed  ; ” and  the 
fury  of  the  contending  sects  in  Helmstedt  ran  so  high, 
that  to  be  a lover  of  antiquity  meant  to  be  no  Christian, 
while  the  hope  of  the  Church  was  held  to  be  irreconcilable 
with  learning.  All  the  ducal  patronage  did  not  avail 
against  the  carping  spirit  of  the  doctors  and  schoolmen. 
On  the  one  side  was  the  Nolan  breathing  defiance,  and 
on  the  other  the  army  of  place-hunters  to  whom  the  rules 
of  grammar  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  were  more 
vital  than  the  whole  of  the  law  and  the  gospel.  These 
men  repaid  tenfold  the  scorn  and  intolerance  which 
Bruno  openly  professed  for  them.  The  opinion  of  the 
many  was,  he  said,  the  judgment  of  fools;  a dangerous 
sentiment  in  one  keenly  sensitive  to  attack  and  persecu- 
tion, and  forced  to  cope  single-handed  with  the  world. 

Some  months  after  the  funeral  of  Duke  Julius,  Bruno 
came  into  collision  with  Boethius,  then  pastor  of  the  Evan- 
gelic Church ; and  on  a Sunday  morning  the  unfortunate 
philosopher  found  sentence  of  excommunication  had  been 
pronounced  upon  him  from  the  chief  pulpit  of  the  city. 

All  that  is  known  of  this  matter  appears  in  the  following 
letter  now  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Wolfenbiittel : — 

“Most  Illustrious  and  most  Reverend  Master  Pro-Rector, 
— Jordanus  Brunus,  the  Nolan,  excommunicated  by  the 
chief  pastor  and  superintendent  of  the  Church  of 
Helmstedt  (who  constituted  himself  judge  in  his  own 
cause,  and  did  himself  execute  his  own  sentence  delivered 
against  an  adversary  who  was  not  permitted  to  respond  in 
his  own  defence),  humbly  protests  before  your  magni- 
ficence, and  before  the  potent  and  reverend  members  of 
your  senate,  against  the  public  execution  of  this  private 
and  most  iniquitous  judgment.  He  demands  to  be  heard, 
that  he  may  judge  whether  the  attack  made  upon  his 
person  and  reputation  is  just ; for,  in  the  words  of  Seneca, 


2CO 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


‘ He  who  delivers  judgment,  and  hears  but  one  side, 
though  he  judge  justly,  is  not  just.’ 

“ Therefore  he  entreats  your  Excellence  to  summon  the 
reverend  pastor,  and  to  examine  and  see  whether  (if  it 
please  God)  he  can  establish  his  cause,  and  prove  that  in 
invoking  the  thunders  of  the  Church  he  had  regard  not 
to  any  private  malice,  but  to  his  duty  as  a shepherd  and 
to  the  welfare  of  his  flock. — Helmstedt,  Oct.  6,  1589, 
written  in  the  hand  of  Jordanus  Brunus.”  1 2 . . . 

It  would  seem  to  follow  from  the  sentence  of  excom- 
munication that  Bruno  had  formally  joined  the  Church  of 
Helmstedt.  This  is  scarcely  more  likely  than  that  he 
joined  the  Church  of  Geneva.  In  spite  of  his  panegyric 
upon  Luther  at  Wittenberg — inspired  perhaps  by  a fellow- 
feeling  for  one  against  whom  every  man’s  hand  was  raised, 
rather  than  dictated  by  sympathy  for  the  theologian — he 
not  only  did  not  accept  the  dogmas  of  Protestantism,  but 
jested  at  them  openly.  Certain  formalities,  even  in  our 
own  time,  are  essential  to  matriculation,  and  with  these  he 
must  proformd  have  complied,  or  he  could  not  have  looked 
for  subsistence  in  any  university  town.  There  could  have 
been  no  other  ground  of  adhesion  to  the  reformed  religion; 
and  the  danger  of  the  excommunication  of  course  lay  in 
the  fact,  not  that  Bruno  was  not  permitted  to  attend  the 
church,  but  that  to  forbid  his  attendance  was  to  attack  his 
existence,  since  his  pupils  would  fear  to  attend  his  lessons. 

In  Helmstedt  he  appears  to  have  occupied  himself  in 
working  out  a new  and  connected  scheme  of  his  philosophy, 
on  a basis  rather  mathematical  than  metaphysical  ; and 
here  he  probably  began  his  work  on  the  Threefold  Minimum , 
in  April  1 5 90.  For  from  the  first  book  it  appears  that  he 
was  still  at  Helmstedt  during  the  festivities  attending  the 
marriage  of  the  Duke;1  and  having  chosen  two  of  his  works, 
on  the  Threefold  Minimum  and  on  the  Monad , to  mark  his 

1 The  date  and  signature  only  are  said  by  Dr.  Yon  Ileinemann  to  be  in 
the  hand  of  Bruno. 

2 The  marriage  took  place  011  the  19th  of  April  1590. 


ATTACKS  UPON  PRIEST  AND  GRAMMARIAN.  201 


gratitude  to  Henry  Julius,  so  it  remained  for  a third  to 
serve  him  as  an  instrument  of  vengeance  on  the  offending 
theologians.  The  poem  Dc  Immenso,  published  in  1591 
at  Frankfort,  contains  countless  thrusts  at  two  individuals, 
called  the  Priest  and  the  Grammarian,  for  whom,  in  all 
probability,  Boethius  and  Hofmann  had  sat  as  portraits  ; 
and  here  is  the  key  to  the  mystery,  and  the  clue  to  the 
disappearance  of  the  daring  herald  of  the  Copernican 
theory  from  the  limited  horizon  of  Helmstedt.  The  point 
of  dispute  was  the  constitution  of  the  heavens,  but  the 
quarrel  was  embittered  by  matters  pertaining  to  earth. 
“ It  is,”  Bruno  wrote  from  Frankfort,  in  that  array  of 
Latin  hexameters  and  prose  notes  upon  conceptions  of 
unity,  number,  quantity,  and  space  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  De  Immenso, — “ It  is  true  that  the  dust  and 
ashes  of  honest  thinkers  weigh  more  upon  the  balance 
than  the  souls  of  such  as  falsify  the  words  of  the  great 
(Copernicus),  maintaining  that  the  heavens  stand  still  while 
the  earth  moves,  but  not  the  moon  and  all  the  other  stars.” 

With  a pardonable  want  of  civility,  he  exhorts  the 
cobbler  to  stick  to  his  last  (p.  266  ; P.  I.  p.  1 73-1 74  ; 
B.  iv.  c.  10,  p.  399,  &c.),  and  finally  calls  in  plain  terms 
upon  his  two  enemies  to  abstain  from  compromising  their 
dignity  by  meddling  with  matters  which  they  did  not 
understand.  It  was  no  doubt  a hardship  that  Boethius, 
the  instigator  of  Bruno’s  excommunication,  should  have 
put  forward  another  ecclesiastic  to  accuse  the  philosopher, 
allotting  to  himself  the  part  of  judge  in  the  cause,  with- 
out giving  ear  to  the  Nolan’s  defence,  and,  so  far  as  we 
know,  without  answering  his  demand  for  satisfaction  ; and 
Bruno,  whose  stormy  spirit  exulted  in  strife,  was  not  slow 
to  take  vengeance. 

In  this  forcible  and  well-merited  attack  upon  peda- 
gogues and  theologians,  Boethius  appears  as  the  neotericus 
and  reverendissimus,  the  latter  a title  bestowed  upon  him 
by  Bruno  in  his  letter  to  Hofmann.  The  Grammarian  is 
once  entitled  Rector,  which  points  to  the  intolerant  Hof- 


202 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


mann,  who  was  rector  of  the  Helmstedt  University ; one, 
according  to  Bruno,  not  less  ignorant  in  grammar  than  in 
philosophy,  and  whose  hide  was  scarcely  fit  for  leather 
(P.  i.  175)-  The  Protestant  zealot,  Daniel  Hofmann,  to 
whom  Bruno’s  letter  was  addressed,  was  then  pro-rector 
and  professor  of  philosophy ; and,  beginning  life  as  a 
student  in  philosophy  (a  science  which,  later  in  life,  he 
considered  the  enemy  of  religion),  he  comprehended  all 
philosophers  in  his  hatred  of  their  calling.  In  1578  he 
became  doctor  of  divinity,  and  he  was  soon  known  as 
the  chief  of  a rancorous  intolerant  party  calling  themselves 
Hofmanniani.  He  first  came  into  notice  when  the  Duke 
intrusted  him  with  the  task  of  refuting  the  Formula  of 
Concord  at  the  colloquy  of  Quedlinburg.  One  of  the 
vulgar  indestructible  species  which,  from  time  immemorial, 
have  oppressed  and  tortured  the  lonely  forerunners  of 
progress,  he  spent  his  time  in  battling  with  the  doctrine 
of  ubiquity  and  the  confession  of  faith  ; and  when  attack- 
ing the  scholastic  philosophy,  he  declared  that  Aristotle 
favoured  Pelagianism,  and  that  many  matters  true  in 
philosophy  were  false  in  religion. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  Bruno’s  accusers,  some- 
what later,  fell  severally  under  the  censure  of  the  govern- 
ing body.  Boethius  incurred  formal  condemnation.  As 
a result  of  one  of  the  countless  quarrels  upon  the  ubiquity 
of  Christ,  he  was  called  before  the  General  Consistory 
held  in  March  1615,  and  there  admonished  “never  to 
commit  himself  in  such  wise  again,  and  to  hold  that 
learned  assembly  in  greater  respect  than  heretofore ; ” 
with  no  salutary  result,  however,  for  the  next  year  brought 
him  once  more  under  censure.1 

1 The  students  were  careful  to  at  times  against  the  professors,  when 
follow  the  turbulent  examples  set  by  it  became  necessary  to  call  in  the 
their  pastors  and  masters.  In  1590  help  of  the  law  to  settle  their  differ- 
Caselius  of  Rostock  found  their  ences.  In  1601  Hofmann  was  called 
manners  open  to  severe  reproof,  upon  by  the  Duke  himself  to  make 
They  were  said  to  be  soldiers  rather  a formal  recantation  of  his  errors, 
than  students  ; lubberly  and  quarrel-  and  to  apologise  to  two  of  his  oppo- 
some  youths ; the  elders  bullying  nents,  after  which  he  was  bidden  to 
the  younger,  and  the  whole  uniting  quit  Helmstedt  for  ever. 


FRANKFORT,  1590. 


203 


The  results  of  Bruno’s  protest  against  the  tyranny  of 
Boethius  and  Hofmann  are  easy  to  divine.  We  have 
it  on  his  evidence  that  he  remained  u about  a year  ” 
(Doc.  ix.)  in  Helmstedt ; which  would  give  him  at  least 
three  months  in  that  city  after  his  excommunication. 
Deprived  of  the  power  of  lecturing  at  the  university,  he 
saw  his  livelihood  slowly  ebbing  from  him,  and  having 
entered  on  a mortal  combat  with  powers  above  his  own, 
no  choice  was  left  him  but  to  depart. 

He  appeared  at  Frankfort,  which  was  his  next  resting- 
place,  towards  the  middle  of  1590;  and,  though  some 
time  must  have  been  consumed  on  the  journey,  it  is 
scarcely  likely  that  he  quitted  Helmstedt  before  April  or 
May  of  that  year.  The  rancour  of  the  theologians  may 
have  passed  out  of  his  mind  when  “ beholding,”  in  the 
words  of  Milton,  “ the  bright  countenance  of  Truth  in  the 
quiet  and  still  air  of  delightful  studies,”  although  the 
stress  of  his  poverty  must  sooner  or  later  have  recalled 
him  to  himself.  In  the  midst  of  all  peril  and  difficulty, 
however,  he  preserved  a grateful  remembrance  of  the 
younger  Duke.  While  at  Frankfort  in  1591  he  dedicated 
his  book  Of  the  Monad  to  Duke  Henry  Julius,  and  on 
leaving  Frankfort  for  his  ill-timed  journey  to  Venice,  he 
committed  to  the  hands  of  the  printer,  Wechel,  his 
finished  manuscript  of  the  Threefold  Minimum,  with  a 
recommendation  that  it  should  also  be  dedicated  to  the 
Duke.  These  dedications  and  his  eulogium  ( [De  Trip. 
60,  80)  on  the  occasion  of  the  prince’s  marriage  remain 
as  his  thanks  for  the  hospitality  of  the  German  prince. 

“ Behold,  0 Divinity  ! the  earth’s  best  possession ; be- 
hold the  son  of  Julius,  issue  of  the  antique  kings  who 
vanquished  the  nations  of  Europe,  overcame  the  sultry 
empires  of  Lybia,  the  vast  lands  of  Asia,  and  gave  back 
to  Germany  the  trophies  wrested  from  her  by  the  arms  of 
Rome.”  The  high-flown  verse  then  calls  down  blessings 
on  the  Duke  and  on  his  royal  bride,  Elizabeth,  the  sister 
of  Anne  of  Denmark,  who,  “ even  when  entwined  with 


204 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


garlands  at  the  festival  of  hymen,”  are  adjured  to  remem- 
ber their  lofty  estate,  to  entertain  projects  worthy  of  their 
heroic  race,  and  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  their  calling  with 
wisdom  and  moderation.  These  compliments,  vague  and 
high  sounding  as  they  were,  set  their  seal  upon  the  fate 
of  Bruno.  Before  the  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  he  was 
charged  with  the  offence  of  “ composing  books  in  which 
he  had  praised  the  Queen  of  England  and  other  heretic 
princes  ; ” and  in  the  margin  of  the  ninth  document  of 
his  trial  in  Venice  the  ominous  words  ££  who  was  a 
heretic  ” stand  against  the  name  of  Henry  J ulius,  Duke  of 
Brunswick. 


( ^05  ) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

“ The  persuasion  that  there  is  indeed  a Sovereign,  the  Upholder  of  the 
worlds,  rejoices  the  soul  of  the  sage,  and  causes  him  to  despise  the 
fan  of  vulgar  souls,  which  is  death.” — De  Immense). 


Frankfort , July  2,  1590.  On  the  Threefold  Minimum.  On  the  Monad , 
the  Innumerable , the  Immense , and  the  Unfigurable.  On  the 
Composition  of  Images,  Signs,  and  Ideas. 

As  soon  as  a certain  quantity  of  Ms  work  was  ready  for 
the  press,  Bruno  set  off  for  Frankfort,  then  the  capital 
of  the  German  book-trade.  Towards  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century  it  was  so  difficult  to  obtain  scarce  volumes 
that  copies  were  still  made  by  hand.1  A book  printed  in 
Oxford  was  to  be  had  in  London  only  at  great  trouble 
and  expense ; and  to  buy  books  printed  abroad  agents 
from  London  attended  the  yearly  or  half-yearly  fairs  at 
Frankfort,  Leipsic,  and  other  places  on  the  Continent. 

Italian  booksellers  came  to  Frankfort  to  exchange  their 
own  literary  productions  and  those  of  other  Italian  presses 
against  the  work  of  the  German  printers,  and  from  Frank- 
fort catalogues  of  books  issued  and  spread  over  Europe 
like  so  many  precious  chronicles  of  literary  progress. 

The  fairs  at  Frankfort  were  held  at  Easter  and 
Michaelmas,  and  the  quantity  of  books  which  changed 
hands  was  so  great,  that,  in  the  words  of  an  eye-witness,2 

1 The  work  on  the  Composition  should  travel  towards  the  kead- 
of  Images,  Signs,  and  Ideas  was  quarters  of  the  booksellers, 
probably  finished,  and  a certain  2 Relatione  della  Corte  e State  del 
part  of  the  book  on  the  Minimum  Serenissimo  Ferdinando  Maria,  da 
appears  to  have  been  written,  in  Conte  G.  Gualdo  Priorato.  Leyden, 
Helmstedt.  With  so  much  work  on  166S. 
hand,  it  was  natural  that  Bruno 


2c6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


writing  some  half  century  later,  “ it  was  in  truth  a feast 
for  the  Muses,  so  many  and  so  marvellous  were  the  boohs 
displayed  at  this  fair.”  Estienne,  in  his  encomium  upon 
Frankfort,  writes,  “ Let  the  Italians  visit  these  antique 
fairs,  and  say  whether  the  Germans  are  not  accomplished 
in  other  things  beside  the  mechanical  arts  ; let  them  look 
at  home,  and  see  whether  they  possess  any  show  to  equal 
these  fairs.” 

On  the  2d  July  1590  an  entry  occurs  in  the  record 
of  the  town-council  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,1  in  which 
Bruno  petitions  for  permission  to  live  in  the  house  of  the 
printer  Wechel.2  This  was  peremptorily  refused  by  the 
Burgomaster,  in  the  following  terms  : — 

“ Thursday , July  2,  1590. — Since  Jordanus  Brunus 
Nolanus,  philosophise  naturalis  studiosus,  entreats  to  be 
graciously  permitted  to  spend  several  weeks  in  the  house 
of  Johann  Wechel,  printer 3 . . . Resolved  his  request 
shall  be  refused  and  he  required  to  go  and  earn  his  bread 
elsewhere.” 

The  excommunication  of  Boethius,  informal  as  it  was, 
perhaps  designated  Bruno  as  an  enemy,  and  by  follow- 
ing him  to  Frankfort  may  have  warned  the  community 
against  him.  Refuge  in  the  house  of  Wechel  having 
been  denied  him,  the  convent  of  the  Carmelites  gave  him 
shelter ; and  here,  at  the  cost  of  Wechel,  he  spent  about 
seven  months,  while  his  books  were  printing,  cutting 
with  his  own  hands  the  explanatory  figures,  and  engaging 
to  be  responsible  for  all  corrections.  Here  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  booksellers  who  went  twice  every  year 
to  the  Frankfort  fair,  some  of  whom  were  lodged  in  the 

1 Book  of  the  Burgomaster,  No.  correctors  for  the  press  during  that 

160,  p.  48.  period.  Earlier  in  the  century  (1542) 

2 The  family  of  Wechel  were  Rabelais  was  employed  in  this  man- 

known  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  ner  at  Lyons  for  the  house  of  Sebas- 

3 With  regard  to  Wechel’s  plan  tian  Gryphius,  and  Aldus  of  Venice, 
of  lodging  Bruno  in  his  own  house,  Froben  of  Basle,  Estienne  of  Lyons, 
it  was  common  to  the  great  printers  with  the  home-bred  Wechel,  prided 
thus  to  secure  the  services  of  scholars,  themselves  on  nourishing  and  sup- 
Many  illustrious  names  appear  as  porting  men  of  letters. 


FRANKFORT,  1590. 


207 


monastery.  Among  these  were  the  two  Venetians  Ciotto 
and  Bertano,  who  afterwards  gave  evidence  at  the  trial. 
According  to  the  deposition  of  Bertano  (Doc.  vii.),  the  Prior 
of  the  Carmelites  of  Prankfort  declared  Bruno  to  be  a man 
“ of  fine  intellect  and  of  great  knowledge,  but  of  no  religion 
whatever,  so  far  as  he  knew,”  adding  that  Bruno  had  said 
he  possessed  more  learning  than  the  Apostles,  and  that 
he  had  “ the  power,  if  he  pleased,  to  make  the  whole 
world  of  one  religion.”  He  was  described  as  “ busied 
with  writing  for  the  most  part  all  day  long,  or  in  going 
to  and  fro,  indulging  in  subtle  inquiries,  wrapt  in 
thought,  and  filled  with  fantastic  meditations  upon  new 
things.”  He  was  also  said  to  have  held  “ heretical  con- 
ferences ” with  heretic  doctors  upon  the  Lullian  art  of 
memory. 

We  have  thus  a fair  picture  of  this  period  in  Bruno’s 
life.  Among  the  friars  he  enjoyed  complete  liberty ; 
cheered,  in  the  words  of  Milton,  by  the  thought  that  by 
“ labour  and  intent  study  (which  he  took  to  be  his  portion 
in  this  life),  joined  with  the  strong  propensity  of  Nature, 
he  might  perhaps  leave  something  so  written  to  after 
times  as  they  should  not  willingly  let  it  die.”  Such 
hours  as  were  not  devoted  to  writing,  to  correcting 
for  the  press,  or  cutting  explanatory  figures  in  wood, 
were  given  to  conferences  with  pupils,  and  to  philoso- 
phic and  literary  discussions  in  the  booksellers’  shops, 
then  the  centre  of  literary  progress.  In  Frankfort,  as 
in  London,  he  found  expression  for  his  profoundest 
thought. 

Early  in  1591  four  Latin  works,  on  the  Threefold 
Minimum,  on  the  Monad,  on  Immensity , and  on  the 
Composition  of  Images,  Signs,  and  Ideas,  went  to  press, 
and  attest  this  period  of  literary  activity. 

In  these  works  Bruno  advocates  that  metaphysical  medi- 
tation which  perceives  in  the  all-penetrating  spirit  of  the 
universe  the  last  and  supreme  unity  of  the  sum  of 
souls,  which,  according  to  their  particular  disposition,  do, 


20S 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


by  mutual  separation  or  combination,  represent  the  soul 
of  the  world,  as  by  a like  separation  or  combination 
corporal  atoms  or  monads  represent  the  life  or  body 
of  the  universe.  Each  monad  exists  by  itself ; in  each 
monad  the  universe  is  reflected ; in  each  is  its  owxl 
centre ; and  thus  there  are  as  many  centres  of  the 
universe  as  there  are  worlds,  stars,  living  creatures, 
and  living  hearts,  and  these  are  in  number  infinite. 
Finally,  the  thinker  will  discover  that  the  soul,  the  life 
penetrating  all  monads,  that  moving  primitive  power 
which  animates  all  monads  in  ascending  and  descending 
gradation,  is  no  other  than  the  substance  of  substances, 
the  monad  of  monads,  God  (D^  Trip.  Min.  p.  85). 

Bruno’s  view  of  metaphysic  truth  and  its  application  to 
the  new  doctrines  of  science  appears  in  the  Italian  books 
printed  by  Yautrollier  in  London,  and  in  the  Latin  series 
printed  by  Wechel.  While  writing  Italian,  Bruno’s  style 
may  be  called  clear  and  simple,  even  when  dealing  with 
abstract  ideas ; but  in  Latin,  he  gave  the  reins  to  his 
poetic  fancy,  using  Italian  forms,  and  too  often  violating 
the  rules  of  verse.  Abstract  ideas,  in  themselves  hard 
to  grasp,  are  disguised  in  Latin  hexameters ; and  these, 
added  to  the  abundance  of  poetic  images  and  allegoric 
figures  crowding  upon  his  mind,  create  considerable  con- 
fusion and  obscurity.  Still  these  works  are  said  by 
Professor  Carriere  to  contain  the  philosopher’s  best  and 
ripest  thought.  “ The  great  doctrine  of  Copernicus,”  he 
writes  ( Allgemcine  Zeitung , October  20,  1868)  “ released 
him  from  the  thraldom  of  tradition ; he  had  cast  off  the 
bonds  by  which  the  world  of  thought  was  enslaved,  and 
his  glance  pierced  even  to  infinity.  He  was  the  first  of 
the  philosophers  to  perceive  the  necessary  result  of  this 
teaching,  and  it  was  this  which  drew  upon  him  the  scorn  of 
Scioppius,  scorn  which  in  truth  is  now  returned  tenfold  to 
its  author.  In  these  works  God  is  displayed  in  the  uni- 
verse, a conscious,  real,  ruling  existence.”  “ Although,” 
says  Brunnhofer,  “ investigators  of  to-day  may  smile  at 


FRANKFORT,  1590. 


209 


certain  of  Bruno’s  theories,  yet  there  is  an  enduring  charm 
in  these  extraordinary  poems  ; for  the  unity  of  the 
universe,  the  interrelations  of  the  life  of  the  earth  and 
the  stars,  and  the  close  connection  in  the  processes  of 
the  mind  and  body,  never  found  an  exponent  so  poetic 
and  so  intellectually  gifted  as  Bruno.  Towards  the 
close  of  his  work  the  poet-philosopher  is  borne  aloft  on 
a flight  of  inspired  verse,  dictated  by  the  enchanting 
beauty  of  the  universe  and  the  sublime  order  of  its 
laws.” 

In  contrast  to  this  criticism  it  should  be  remembered 
that  certain  of  Bruno’s  biographers  find  his  Latin  poems 
especially  dull,  unintelligible,  and  obscure.  “ For  getting 
a strong  impression  that  a skein  is  tangled,”  says  George 
Eliot,  “ there  is  nothing  like  snatching  hastily  at  a single 
thread  and  perhaps  none  of  Bruno’s  works  demand  more 
patience  in  unravelling  than  the  three  books  printed  in 
Frankfort.  It  is  to  the  patient  and  affectionate  care 
of  Bartholmess  that  we  owe  their  revival  from  the  dust 
of  three  centuries.  He  speaks  frankly  of  Bruno’s  ti’eat- 
ment,  of  his  shocking  disdain  for  the  rules  of  prosody,  of 
the  haste  and  negligence  of  the  composition,  of  number- 
less faults  in  taste ; he  even  repeats  the  criticism  of 
Brucker,  “ more  obscure  than  night,”  and  of  Heumann, 
“ a theatre  of  fantastic  shadows,”  with  the  addition,  “ he 
has  four  times  more  imagination  than  good  sense.”  The 
subject,  however,  of  the  sequence  of  Latin  didactic  poems 
is  plain,  and  it  is  plainly  stated  by  the  author.  Bruno 
approaches  truth,  the  subject  of  speculation,  the  vast  and 
eternal  object  of  all  science,  under  three  separate  terms 
or  titles,  On  the  Threefold  Minimum  and  Measure ; On  the 
Monad,  Number , and  Figure  ; and  On  the  Innumerable,  the 
Immense,  and  the  Unfigurable. 

Bruno’s  aim  in  the  works  of  this  series  is  to  show 
that  mathematics,  and  indeed  all  the  sciences,  have  for 
their  basis  the  Minimum  or  the  point,  the  Monad  or 

o 


210 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


unity.  It  is  in  tlie  first  instance  essential  to  understand 
that  by  the  Minimum  or  Monad,  as  by  spiritual  sub- 
stance, the  philosopher  defines  a force,  not  a body ; and 
these  terms  are  used  by  him  the  one  for  the  other, 
as  where  he  says  (and  here  Leibnitz  follows  him)  that 
God  is  the  Minimum  or  Mouad  above  all  things  ( De  Min., 
P-  10). 

Science  proceeds  from  the  Minimum,  which  is  immea- 
surable and  indivisible,  because  it  is  small,  to  bodies 
capable  of  measure  and  division ; and  from  these  to  the 
immensity  of  the  universe,  which,  by  reason  of  its  great- 
ness, is  immeasurable,  without  number,  and  without  figure. 
Thus  we  have  the  infinitely  little  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  infinitely  great  on  the  other,  and  between  these  ex- 
tremes there  are  finite  comparative  gradations,  each  of 
which  tends  towards  the  infinite,  either  by  small  and 
slender  qualities  or  by  immensity ; such  are  the  three 
degrees  of  Bruno’s  encyclopaedic  ladder,  which,  he  says, 
“ are  revealed  by  Nature;  they  are  contemplated  by  the 
reason,  and  they  are  upheld  by  God  in  all  things.” 

Thus  “ the  unity  of  the  republics  of  the  world  is 
declared  to  us,  of  that  boundless  monarchy  which  is 
swayed  by  the  Infinite  Prince  and  Ruler.  . . . Neither 
sense,  nor  words,  nor  things,  neither  that  which  is  com- 
pounded, nor  abstract,  nor  simple,  nor  that  which  is 
physical,  nor  that  which  is  mathematical,  nor  that  which 
is  divine,  nor  bodies,  shadows,  and  souls  ; not  one  of  these 
is  incomprehensible  to  him  who  possesses  a just  apprecia- 
tion of  littleness,  greatness,  and  immensity.  For  these 
three  terms  comprehend  the  three  modes  in  which  being 
makes  itself  manifest,  that  being  which,  under  all  form  and 
in  every  degree  of  existence,  is  one  and  the  same,  the  very 
substance  of  things,  for  ever  immutable  in  reality,  yet  in 
appearance  for  ever  subject  to  the  inconceivable  variety 
of  change”  (Preface  to  the  Monad).  “The  Monad  is 
not  extreme  littleness  alone.  It  is  the  germ  of  grandeur  ; 


THE  MINIMUM— THE  MONAD. 


211 

it  is  the  point,  the  atom,  unity,  a minimum  of  force,  the 
invisible  foundation  of  things  visible,  of  matter  and 
spirit,  and  of  the  Maximum  (Ibid.) 

The  Monad  is  the  Maximum  reduced  to  its  primary 
condition,  and  the  Maximum  is  the  Monad  amplified  to 
infinity.  The  one  touches  and  resembles  the  other,  as 
the  drop  of  water  touches  and  resembles  the  ocean.  The 
one  encloses  and  produces  the  other ; the  one  is  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  the  other.  Without  the 
Monad  there  could  be  no  Maximum,  and  nothing  could 
exist.  So  the  Monad  is  the  point  of  departure  and 
basis  of  physics  and  mathematics.  Not  the  forces  and 
elements  only,  but  space  and  dimension  testify  the 
existence  of  a Monad,  a physical  and  mathematic  unity, 
in  essence  metaphysical  and  divine  (De  Min.,  p.  16). 
The  Unity  of  unities,  the  Monad  of  monads,  the  Being  of 
beings,  is  the  Minimum  (p.  109). 

By  the  grace  of  this  Supreme  Being,  all  things  are 
one  and  all  things  have  their  being.  If  God,  the 
Optimus  Maximus,  is  the  Minimum,  he  is  the  Maximum 
also  ; or  rather  lie  is  not  the  one  and  he  is  not  the  other,  for 
in  him  all  is  unity.  He,  who  is  all  possibility,  is  neither 
great  nor  small,  nor  simple,  nor  multifold ; in  him  all 
things  are  comprehended,  with  all  spaces  and  dimensions. 
But  inasmuch  as  the  Divinity  is  the  substance  of  sub- 
stances, the  being  of  beings,  the  cause  and  condition  of 
all  things,  he  may  be  distinguished  by  us  as  the  Minimum 
or  Monad  (De  Min.,  p.  10). 

With  this  wide  signification  of  the  term  Bruno  attri- 
butes to  it  a vast  number  of  effects.  As  the  veritable 
point,  the  Minimum  is  not  only  the  unique  principle  of 
the  line,  of  the  surface,  and  of  the  body ; it  is  a living 
point ; it  is  the  radical  molecule  of  the  body,  the  formative 
principle  of  body  and  soul  alike.  (This  teaching  is 
directly  derived  from  Cusa  and  Plotinus,  as  will  be  seen 
by  a reference  to  Ueberweg  (History  of  Philosophy,  vol. 
ii.  p.  23.)  “And  since  the  Minimum  is  comparable  to 


212 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


tlie  point,  it  is  above  all  things  (He  Min.,  B.  i.  c.  2) 
comparable  to  the  point  which  generates  the  circle,  to  the 
centre.  The  circle,  the  sphere,  is  an  expanded  centre, 
and  the  centre  is  no  other  than  a closed  circle;  and 
these  two  forms  and  motions  manifest  the  identity  of  the 
power  and  the  act,  of  possibility  and  reality.” 

The  first  book,  after  proving  the  existence  of  the  Mini- 
mum, declares  that  all  things  are  circular  in  their  motion, 
which  is  practically  the  same  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Cause 
that  the  centre  of  the  universe  is  everywhere  and  its  cir- 
cumference nowhere.  The  reader  is  furthermore  expressly 
warned  never  to  confound  the  Minimum,  as  it  is  apparent 
to  the  senses,  with  the  simple  absolute  Minimum  (B.  i. 
c.  9). 

A great  part  of  the  second  book  is  occupied  with  the 
circle.  We  are  once  more  emphatically  told  that  the 
true  circle  is  not  more  apparent  to  the  senses  than  the 
point.  The  smallest  is  the  substance  of  all  things  and 
of  infinite  greatness.  Where  the  Minimum  is  not,  there 
is  nothing ; it  bestows  existence  on  things,  for  without 
it  there  is  neither  number  nor  species.  Annihilate  the 
Minimum,  and  the  greatest  is  annihilated  also ; for  the 
Minimum  determines  the  basis  of  increase  and  decrease, 
and  thus  of  all  formation. 

j (This  was  the  view  of  Aristotle,  who  said,  “ The  nature 

1 of  everything  is  best  seen  in  its  smallest  portions  ; ” and 
Lord  Bacon,  in  his  Natural  History  (Exp.  98),  writes  as 
follows : “ The  knowledge  of  man  hitherto  hath  been 
determined  by  the  view  or  sight,  so  that  whatsoever  is 
invisible,  either  in  respect  of  the  fineness  of  the  body 
itself,  or  the  smallness  of  the  parts,  or  of  the  subtlety  of 
the  motion,  is  little  required.  And  yet  these  be  things 
that  govern  Nature  principally.”) 

The  Minimum  is  chosen  for  the  object  of  contempla- 
tion because  it  is  easier  for  the  reason  to  grasp  a small 
object  than  one  that  is  immeasurable.  The  Minimum  has 
no  parts,  for  there  is  nothing  smaller  than  the  smallest ; 


THE  MONAD. 


yet  in  itself  it  is  great,  because  it  is  tlie  basis  of  all 
greatness.  It  is  not  in  its  essence  determinable  by  the 
comprehension,  for  it  is  one,  indissoluble,  impenetrable, 
incomposite,  and  not  subject  to  composition  ; but  by  join- 
ing itself  to  its  like,  the  compounded  material  world  is 
originated.  Although  the  Minimum  in  itself  is  but  one 
(p.  62),  it  is  infinitely  varied  in  its  manifestations. 
Matter  is  incapable  of  producing  two  figures  or  two  lines 
precisely  alike1  (c.  5).  All  created  things  are  unceasing 
in  their  motion ; all  things  move,  as  the  waves  of  the  sea 
move ; and,  like  the  sea,  all  things  submit  to  the  regular 
alternations  of  ebb  and  flow  (p.  69—70).  Through  this 
universal  mutability,  intelligent  substance  preserves  its 
permanence  and  identity  (p.  70— 73). 

“ They  are  fools  who  dread  the  menace  of  death  and 
of  destiny,  for  all  things  in  the  stream  of  Time  are  sub- 
ject to  change  and  are  unconquered  by  it ; and  this  thy 
body,  neither  as  a whole  nor  in  its  parts,  is  identical  with 
yesterday.  The  substance  of  the  limbs  passes  away  and 
is  renewed,  and  yet  the  unchangeable  essence  dwells 
within  the  heart  amid  the  changes  and  chances  of 
life.” 

“ The  Minimum  has  no  body.  It  is  indivisible  by  any 
force  of  Nature.  Lightning  cannot  devour  it,  nor  flame 
consume  it,  for  it  is  indestructible,  like  the  elements  of 
the  body,  among  which  it  dwells  at  peace.  It  is  the 
indivisible,  unchanging  essence,  dwelling  in  separable 
unchanging  parts.”  “ Order  and  place,  and  the  use 
of  the  parts,  change  constantly,  but  the  Minimum,  the 
indivisible  essence,  is  tranquil  and  immutable.”  “ The 
Minimum  is  the  veritable  essence  and  basis  of  things, 

1 It  is  a doctrine  of  the  philo-  points,  but  after  much  time  spent  in 
sophy  of  Leibnitz  that  two  things  searching  the  garden,  was  forced  to 
cannot  be  exactly  uniform  (Nou-  own  he  was  beaten.  It  is  not  pos- 
veaux  Essais,  Avant  propos).  He  sible,  Leibnitz  adds,  to  find  two 
then  proceeds  to  tell  a story.  In  the  drops  of  water  or  milk  which  are 
garden  of  the  Electress  Sophia  at  exactly  the  same  when  seen  through 
Herrenhausen,  a gentleman  thought  the  microscope, 
he  could  find  two  leaves  alike  at  all 


214 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


not  composed , but  composing.”  “ Life  is  the  expansion 
or  unfolding  of  the  centre.  The  Minimum  is  the 
source  of  life  and  growth,  until  the  time  is  fulfilled 
when  the  spirit  retreats  to  its  centre,  and  thence  to 
the  world  of  the  infinite.  This  we  call  death,  be- 
cause the  light  after  which  we  strive  is  covered  ; but 
some  there  are  who  know  this  life  in  the  under-world  1 is 
death,  and  dying  the  awakening  of  true  life.  Yet  do 
not  all  men  ascend  from  the  prison  of  the  body ; for, 
succumbing  to  that  solidity  and  compounded  mass,  and 
devoid  of  divine  flame,  they  are  cast  into  the  dungeon  of 
darker  abysses.” 

i “ Thus  the  spirit,  in  obedience  to  unseen  law,  clothes 
itself  with  the  atoms,  shaping  for  itself  limbs  as  for  the 
prison-house  of  death.  The  spirit  pours  itself  forth  into 
. the  whole  of_tke  hody,  until  it  withdraws  from  the  web 
! of  its  weaving  and  from  the  slumbering  substance  into 
I the  core  of  the  heart,  and  passes  out  into  the  incorporeal 
i air.” 

“ The  distinctive  character  of  the  soul  is  unity,  indivi- 
sibility, and  their  sequence,  incorruptibility  ; and  this  pre- 
rogative is  from  God  himself,  the  Soul  of  souls”  (p.  74). 
£C  For  plurality  is  in  unity,  and  number  is  in  the  Monad, 
and  infinite  extension  is  in  the  point ; and  substance, 
which  is  the  foundation  and  basis  of  the  body,  changes 
its  form,  but  does  not  cease  to  exist ; how  much  less, 
therefore,  shall  the  soul  be  subject  to  mortality  ?”  (Book  i. 
chap.  3). 

The  third  book  aims  at  establishing  a sound  method  for 
deducing  all  science  from  a small  number  of  self-evident 
truths,  of  which  the  following  is  one:  “All  greatness 
poceeds  from  the  Minimum,  and  is  resolved  into  the 
Minimum.” 

(The  identity  existing  in  various  phases  of  the  Monad 
is  designed  as  indifferentism  in  the  school  of  Schelling, 

1 “ This  earthly  load 

Of  death  called  life,  which  us  from  life  doth  sever.” — Milton. 


THE  MONAD. 


215 


by  which  Schelling  desired  to  show  that  object  and  sub- 
ject, nature  and  spirit,  the  real  and  the  ideal,  are  identical 
in  the  Absolute.  The  original  indifferentiated  unity  or 
indifference  is  said  to  pass  into  the  popular  opposites  of 
positive  or  ideal,  and  negative  or  real,  being.  The  negative 
or  real  pole  is  Nature.  The  positive  or  ideal  pole  is  spirit. 
Bruno’s  doctrines  upon  the  Coincidence  of  Oppositions  and 
the  spiritual  character  of  matter  reappear  in  this  phase 
of  Schelling’ s philosophy.) 

The  fourth  book  describes  the  manner  in  which  the 
Monad  is  developed  and  multiplied.  Part  of  the  last 
dialogue  of  the  Cause  (W.  i.  288)  is  occupied  with  some- 
what similar  reasoning.  The  fundamental  harmony  (Be 
Min.,  132)  of  things  is  displayed  in  geometry;  for  the 
line,  the  triangle,  and  the  circle  are  one  in  the  eyes  of 
him  who  is  able  to  grasp  the  coincidence  of  dimensions, 
or  the  inner  virtues  of  the  point. 

The  fifth  book  treats  of  measure,  and  the  last  chapter 
is  full  of  allusions  to  the  art  of  Lully.  Bartholmess,  who 
does  full  justice  to  the  thought,  ingenuity,  and  brilliant 
learning  displayed  in  this  poem,  does  not  pass  over  its 
incongruous  sallies  of  wit,  and  its  ponderous  allegorical 
interpretations ; but  he  is  careful  to  call  attention  to  the 
passages  in  which  Bruno  recommends  moderate  doubt  to 
lovers  of  philosophy  (B.  i.  c.  2),  whom  he  exhorts  to  walk 
with  sure  and  well-ordered  steps  (B.  i.  c.  4) ; to  clear 
the  ground  of  all  prejudice  before  seeking  to  raise  the 
temple  of  Truth  ; to  determine  the  relation  of  the  senses 
to  the  understanding  and  the  reason  (p.  20) ; and  to 
establish  the  fact  that  the  senses  do  not  deceive  him  who 
is  careful  to  limit  them  to  the  objects  with  which  they 
correspond  (B.  i.  c.  2).1 

1 “ The  sight  does  not  deceive  consequently  a false  appreciation  of 
us  ; none  of  the  senses  deceive,  any  position  proceeds  not  from  the 
The  eye  does  not  possess  the  innate  eye,  but  from  the  mind.” — Alfred 
faculty  of  appreciating  the  relative  Binet : La  Rectification  des  Illusions 
position  of  bodies  in  space,  and,  per  Vappel  aux  Sens. 


2l6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


In  conclusion,  Bruno  strives  to  demonstrate  that  the 
soul  is  the  animating  principle,  not  only  of  the  spiritual 
I substance,  but  of  the  body,  and  that  it  is  in  some  sort  the 
very  architect  and  central  point  of  the  body  (p.  I 3) ; and, 
| finally,  he  proclaims  in  impassioned  language  the  inef- 
faceable character  of  the  soul,  its  absolute  simplicity,  its 
indestructible  substantiality,  its  immateriality,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  its  personal  immortality.  The  formative 
power  of  the  soul  and  its  general  pre-eminence  is  the 
.leading  characteristic  of  this  work.  Man’s  place  in  life  is 
I between  the  divine  and  the  earthly ; he  is  a link  between 
} the  ideal  and  the  real ; sharing  in  both  and  uniting  in 
I himself  two  natures.  He  is  eternal,  and  in  his  wandering- 
through  space  he  receives  all  forms.  He  is  wondrously 
devised,  and  being  divine,  he  passes  into  God,  overcoming 
all  things  that  he  may  be  in  God  and  with  him,  and 
striving  after  the  infinite  because  God  is  infinite,  immea- 
surable, and  everywhere.  The  soul  is  an  individual,  a 
thinking  monad,  the  rule  and  shape  of  the  body.  We 
are  what  we  are  by  means  of  the  invisible  substance  of 
the  soul ; for  constant  attraction,  reception,  and  ejec- 
tion of  the  atoms  occurs  round  an  active  all-present 
‘centre^ 

In  birth  and  generation  the  controlling  spirit  expands 
from  its  centre,  the  heart,  to  the  outermost  portals  of 
sense ; and  in  death  the  spirit  contracts,  departing  by  the 
same  way  and  by  the  same  gate  of  entrance.  Thus  birth 
is  extension  of  the  centre  ; life  is  a constituent  part  of  the 
sphere  ; death  is  contraction  into  the  centre.  “ And  herein 
is  proof  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul ; for  the  power  and 
essence,  the  principle  and  member  of  harmony,  which 
wondrously  builds  up  the  body,  orders  it  and  gives  it 
animation — this  can  be  no  lower  in  dignity  nor  meaner  in 
its  destination  than  the  body,  the  substance  of  which  we 
know  to  be  eternal  and  imperishable,  even  when  reduced 
to  dust  or  cast  into  the  deep  of  the  sea.” 


THE  MINIMUM. 


217 


“ And  learn 

That  what  of  us  was  taken  from  the  dust 
Will  surely  one  day  to  the  dust  return  ; 

And  what  the  air  has  lent  us,- Heaven  will  hear 
Away,  and  render  back  its  own  to  air.” — Lucretius. 

These  works,  printed  in  Frankfort,  consisting  of  a series, 
the  first  upon  the  Minimum,  the  second  upon  the  Monad, 
and  the  third  upon  the  Innumerable , the  Immense , and  the 
Unfigurable , are  dedicated  to  Duke  Henry  Julius.  Before 
Wagner  collected  and  printed  Bruno’s  Italian  writings, 
this  was  his  only  known  work  on  philosophy.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  it  was  looked  upon  as  his  most 
important  achievement.  Yogt  says  of  the  series,  “ This 
is  the  rarest  of  Bruno’s  rare  books.”  Zimmermann,  a 
warm  admirer  of  the  Nolan,  dedicated  his  book  Scriptura 
Sancta  Copernicans  to  Duke  Rudolf  Augustus  of  Brunswick, 
in  the  hope  of  persuading  that  prince  to  reprint  the 
Minimum  and  its  sequel.  “ It  is,”  Zimmermann  wrote, 
“ a wise  and  profound  book,  full  of  fire,  faithful  in  depict- 
ing Nature,  and  formerly  patronised  by  Duke  Henry  Julius 
of  Brunswick.”  It  was  the  pious  object  of  Zimmermann  to 
show  that  the  laws  of  Kepler  and  the  theories  of  Copernicus 
were  once  under  ducal  patronage,  and  ai’e  at  no  time 
contrary  to  Scripture ; and  Bruno  is  distinguished  as  one 
of  the  noblest  and  most  steadfast  disciples  of  the  astronomer 
of  Thorn. 

Another  Zimmermann  (J.  J.),  in  a book  entitled  Dis- 
sertatio  de  Atheismo  J.  Bruno  Nolano  impacto,  remarks 
that  Bruno’s  memory  is  wronged  by  those  who  look  upon 
him  as  a heretic  and  an  atheist.  Readers  with  a sense  of 
humour  will  be  amused  to  find  that  Zimmermann  defends 
Bruno 1 against  a charge  of  Spinozism , which  is  as  much 
as  to  say  he  was  not  affected  by  the  ailments  of  posterity. 

1 This  series  of  Bruno’s  works  Played  Out  from  the  Candle-Bearer. 
apparently  served  for  the  basis  of  It  is,  moreover,  interesting  to  Eng- 
the  Comic  History  of  the  States  and  lish  readers  to  trace  the  influence  of 
Empires  of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  by  Bruno  on  Huyghens,  of  whose  Cos- 
Cyrano  de  Bergerac,  who  has  been  motheoros  (1695)  Newton  spoke  with 
shown  to  have  borrowed  his  Pedant  admiration. 


2 1 3 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Many  pages  convey  in  verse  passages  from  the  books 
published  in  London,  and  Bruno  appears  to  have  desired 
that  the  Minimum  should  contain  the  quintessence  of 
his  doctrine.  Berti  considers  the  metrical  form  of  this 
work  a “ grave  impediment,”  and  he  pronounces  the 
Frankfort  works  to  be  inferior  to  the  Italian  in  many 
respects,  “ especially  with  regard  to  the  order  and  pre- 
cision of  the  expositions,  and  the  vigour  and  efficacy  of 
the  dialectic  connection.”  “ Nevertheless,”  he  adds,  “ the 
book  is  of  exceptional  value ; and  in  places  it  surprises 
and  startles  the  reader  with  its  profound  thought,  with 
its  wealth  of  imagery,  and  with  the  language  and  bearing 
of  prophecy  assumed  by  its  author  when  announcing  the 
renewing  of  science,  policy,  and  religion  on  the  terrestrial 
globe.”  The  work  is  pronounced  to  be  “ a metaphysical 
and  cosmological  epopceia.  intermingled  with  episodes 
in  which  he  (Bruno)  delineates  his  own  character  with 
singular  precision  and  faithfulness  ; ” and,  piercing  the 
grandiloquent  style  which  Berti  assumes  as  poets  do  their 
singing-robes,  it  is  pleasant  to  see  a gleam  of  pity  for 
the  troubles  of  the  philosopher.  “ Who  does  not  gather 
the  whole  of  Bruno’s  life,”  he  continues,  “ from  the  fol- 
lowing extract ; his  love  of  philosophy,  his  labours  for  it, 
the  perils  he  overcame,  the  journeys  undertaken  by  him, 
and  the  ends  for  which  he  strove  ? ” “ Many  there  be,” 

the  Nolan  cries,  “ who  desire  Philosophy,  but  few  there  be 
who  seek  after  her ; and  these  few  put  off  in  their  ships 
from  the  mother  country,  commit  themselves  to  the 
waves,  spread  their  sails,  and  very  soon  the  little  bark 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  full  of  fear  lest  the  tem- 
pestuous wind  should  deliver  it  to  the  mercy  of  the  ocean. 
Or  they  encounter  and  overcome  other  perils  by  land  ; 
mountains,  rivers,  and  deserts  present  themselves,  fall  of 
snares  and  ambuscades ; and  they  are  grievously  per- 
plexed, ill-lodged,  or,  worse  still,  they  are  overtaken 
by  the  night.  Through  dark  valleys,  over  inaccessible 
mountains,  they  fly  from  inhospitable  nations,  and  seek 


PERSONALITY  OF  THE  POET. 


219 


shelter  in  the  caves  of  wild  animals.  Returned  to  Italy, 
in  a little  while  they  set  forth  to  seek  a better  fortune ; 
they  quit  the  Tiber,  the  Arno,  and  the  Po ; they  pass  the 
Alps,  the  Rhone,  and  the  Garonne ; they  cross  Navarre 
and  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  superb  waters  of  the  Tagus ; 
and  behold  them  on  the  shores  of  ocean,  beyond  the  pillars 
of  Hercules,  sailing  towards  nations  whose  day  dawns 
to  westward  of  us,  and  their  setting  sun  is  in  our  east ; 
and  this  to  attain  the  fountain  of  wisdom,  understanding, 
and  learning.  Thus  they  lavish  the  inheritance  of  their 
forefathers  and  the  flower  of  their  age ; they  keep  the 
watches  of  the  night ; they  visit  the  monuments  of  anti- 
quity to  share  the  sacred  poetic  frenzy  and  to  acquire  the 
fame  and  splendour  of  the  disciples  of  true  wisdom.” 

Brunnhofer,  when  giving  a German  version  of  this 
passage,  points  out  that  in  places  it  is  a literal  transla- 
tion from  the  Expulsion  (W.  ii.  193). 

Fiorentino’s 1 uncivil  comments  on  the  “ distinguished 
Berti  ” (who  first  noted  the  passage)  is  in  amusing  con- 
trast to  the  gravity  of  the  other  historians.  “ Bruno 
had  no  inheritance  from  his  father  ; far  from  it ! He 
did  not  cross  the  Pjmenees  nor  the  Tagus,  and  therefore 
the  passage  does  not  apply  to  him  ; and  to  say  otherwise 
is  to  place  his  character  in  a light  which  is  sinister  and 
contrary  to  all  historical  accuracy.”  “ En  quoi,”  says 
Rabelais,  “ cognoissez  vous  la  folie  anticque  ? En  quoi 
cognoissez  vous  la  sagesse  presente  ? ” And  it  may  be 
broadly  stated  that  few  men  write  history  in  hexameters, 
while  poetic  license  is  a form  of  antique  folly  omitted  in 
the  studies  of  Signor  Fiorentino.2 


1 Jordani  Bruni  Nolani.  Opera 
Latine  Conscripta  rccensebat  F.  Fio- 
rentino. Naples,  1879.  In  the 
Italian  preface,  p.  38. 

2 Professor  Sigwart,  one  of  the 
most  enlightened  of  Bruno’s  critics, 
promptly  administers  a correction 
to  Fiorentino.  “ Why,”  says  Sig- 
wart  (Gottingische  gelehrte  Anseigen, 
5th  and  1 2th  Jan.  1S81),  “is  there 
no  order  in  Fiorentino’s  reprint  ? 


Why  is  the  numbering  of  the  verses 
omitted  '?  Why  is  the  second  part, 
Be  Immenso,  printed  before  the 
first  ? Why  are  there  semicolons 
for  commas  ? Why  are  there  seven 
errors  in  Latin  in  nineteen  lines  ? ” 
A continuation  of  this  work,  printed 
at  Naples  (18S6),  contains  Be  Um- 
bris  Idearum,  Ars  Memoriae,  Cantus 
Circceus. 


220 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


The  series  is  written  in  hexameters  in  the  manner  of 
Lucretius,  interspered  with  prose  notes  and  illustrations. 
“ The  first  part  aspires  towards  the  truth  ; the  second 
searches  it  out  somewhat  uncertainly  ; in  the  third  the 
truth  is  found  and  declared.  The  first  book  is  surpassing 
in  understanding,  the  second  in  speech,  the  third  in 
matter.  The  first  discloses  our  innate  qualities  ; the 
second,  that  which  comes  by  hearing  ; the  third,  that 
which  we  obtain  by  discovery  ; and  the  whole  represents 
truth,  goodness,  and  beauty.” 

The  second  in  the  series,  the  Monad,  is  chiefly  interest- 
ing to  the  historian  of  astronomy.  It  contains  a quan- 
tity of  astronomical,  mythological,  and  astro-theological 
mottoes  and  verses,  with  illustrations  in  prose,  discovering 
the  state  of  the  science  in  the  interval  between  Coper- 
nicus, Kepler,  and  Galileo. 

A commentary  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Pythagoreans, 
it  is  composed  of  eleven  chapters,  explaining  the  secrets 
of  numbers  and  figures,  and  their  office  in  the  scheme  of 
creation.  The  powers  and  forms  of  Nature,  and  even 
those  of  the  moral  world,  are  arbitrarily  forced  into 
numerical  tables,  related  to  the  Lullian  encyclopaedia. 
Thus  two  stands  for  the  two  souls  of  man,  one  which  is 
animal,  the  other  intellectual.  Three  represents  the  three 
perfections  of  God,  Power,  Wisdom,  and  Love,  with  the 
three  principles  of  the  Pythagoreans  and  Platonists,  Unity, 
Truth,  and  Goodness.  Four  is  an  unlucky  simile,  for 
Bruno  attributes  to  it  great  perfection,  “ because  among 
all  the  learned  nations  the  name  of  God  is  spelt  in  four 
letters.”  Nine  is  the  natural  symbol  of  wisdom,  “ where- 
fore the  Latin  poet  recommends  authors  to  preserve  their 
writings  in  desks  for  nine  years,”  and  so  forth.  Who 
would  divine  that  beneath  this  grotesque  surface  lie  a 
number  of  true,  beautiful,  and  powerful  ideas,  waiting, 
like  seeds  in  the  earth,  to  be  released  by  favouring  in- 
fluences ? 

Of  Tycho  Brahe  Bruno  speaks  in  his  expansive  style 


UPON  IMMENSITY. 


221 


as  “ most  noble,  and  the  prince  of  the  astronomers  of 
his  age”  (p.  1 66).  At  the  same  time  he  advances  his 
own  claim  to  the  discovery  that  the  fixed  stars  have 
their  proper  motion,  and  that  stars  of  the  first  magnitude 
are  not  necessarily  fixed  within  equal  distances  of  each 
other,  coupling  this  with  the  assertion  that  ten  years  later 
Tycho  Brahe  announced  the  discovery  as  his  own.  But  the 
point  most  striking  in  this  work  and  its  sequence,  is  the 
strength  and  tenacity  with  which  Bruno  strives  to  unite 
his  conception  of  the  Divine  presence  with  the  immensity 
of  the  universe,  insisting  continuously  that  so  great  a 
Being  must  possess  a dwelling  in  consonance  with  his 
grandeur,  a vast  and  immeasurable  palace,  which  is  the 
living  universe ; while  the  order  and  harmony  of  the  starry 
skies,  the  even  and  apparently  intelligent  progress  of  the 
flaming  orbs,  bear  witness  that  these  are  but  ministers 
and  heralds  of  the  infinite  and  glorious  presence  of  God. 

Infinity,  which  is  true  and  living,  is  before  the  eyes  of 
man,  shining  like  the  sun,  and,  like  the  sun,  too  glorious 
for  mortal  gaze.  From  the  nature  of  the  Divinity,  as  the 
reason  is  compelled  to  conceive  it,  Bruno  proceeds  to 
argue  the  infinity  of  the  universe  ; if  God  is  eternal,  if  his 
years  and  his  deeds  are  without  end,  then  the  stars  are 
innumerable  and  the  universe  infinite  (De  Inn.  173). 
But  Bartholmess  points  out  with  justice  that  reason  can 
conceive  God  to  be  the  source  of  repose,  as  well  as  the 
source  of  action,  if  we  suppose,  as  we  must,  his  will  to  be 
absolute  in  his  independence.1  The  universe  is  immense 

1 It  will  be  remembered  that  her  children  will  be  able  to  predict 
Bruno  held  free-will  and  necessity  how  under  certain  given  circum- 
to  be  united  in  God  in  the  following  stances  each  child  will  act.  Their 
manner  : — free-will  is  a necessity,  because  it  is 

God  is  all  good  ; without  goodness  a result  of  their  character.  In  the 
he  is  not  God.  His  will  is  goodness  ; same  manner,  but  in  a far  higher 
goodness  is  necessary  to  him ; and  degree,  God  knows  the  hearts  of 
thus  his  will  and  his  necessity  are  men.  To  one  who  beholds  the 
one.  sources  of  character  and  springs  of 

Our  free-will  and  our  necessity  action  a defined  course  is  inevitable, 
may  be  thus  regarded.  A mother  as  the  farmer  will  predict  the  plant 
who  has  studied  the  dispositions  of  from  the  seed  ; and  leaving  on  one 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


by  the  grace  not  only  of  the  presence  of  God,  but  of  his 
Will ; and  an  infinity  which  is  relative  and  conditional 
must  be  indefinite. 

With  Rabelais,  who  writes,  “ Let  us  not  seek  honour 
nor  applause  from  men,  but  the  truth  only,”  Bruno,  too, 
proclaims  his  only  desire  to  be  for  the  Truth,  for  the 
support  of  Nature,  and  the  protection  of  God.  Never- 
theless, he  is  not  altogether  proof  against  the  slings  and 


arrows  of  outrageous  fortune. 
Presbyter  and  Grammaticus.1 

side  the  inherited  organisation  which 
is  said  to  be  destiny,  it  is  clear  that 
God,  in  permitting  to  us  the  neces- 
sity of  our  will,  gives  us  also  the 
power  to  gain  an  inalienable  expe- 
rience, by  means  of  which  our  iden- 
tity is  preserved. 

The  action  is  a necessary  result 
of  the  character  ; character  is  built 
up  out  of  action,  and  every  action  is 
the  result  of  those  other  actions  to 
which  it  succeeds.  “ The  reward,” 
says  George  Eliot,  “ of  one  duty  per- 
formed is  the  power  to  perform 
another  ; ” and  in  the  same  manner 
the  punishment  of  one  evil  action 
is  the  proneness  to  commit  another. 
It  may  be  said  that  although  in  the 
knowledge  of  God  our  free-will  is 
necessity,  because  he  beholds  all 
things,  past,  present,  and  to  come, 
in  one  action,  and  the  instant  and 
eternity  with  him  are  one,  yet  the 
knowledge  of  God  does  not  concern 
us,  and  in  our  knowledge  our  free- 
will can  only  be  reconciled  with  our 
necessity  when  we  strive  to  imitate 
God,  in  whom  free-will  and  neces- 
sity are  one  state,  and  that  state  is 
goodness. 

1 Of  the  intolerant  Hoffmann  of 
Iielmstedt  Leibnitz  remarked,  that 
“ he  became  the  enemy  of  philosophy 
in  his  desire  to  reform  the  abuses  of 
philosophers.” 

The  pedant  or  grammarian  is 
Bruno’s  favourite  emblem  of  the 
ridiculous  (see  De  Trip.  Min.,  v. 
128-130,  p.  5;  ibid.  v.  1 49—151, 
p.  6.  “Pedantry,”  he  says  (W. 


proved  by  his  attacks  upon 


ii.  404),  “ never  came  nearer  ruling 
the  world  than  in  these  our  times.” 
Milman,  in  his  History  of  Latin 
Christianity,  compares  the  works  of 
the  Scholastics  to  the  pyramids  of 
Egypt — vast  oppressive  piles,  which 
display  immense  human  power 
wasted,  great  efforts  which  lead  to 
nothing  but  darkness  and  perplexity. 
All  was  vanity,  feeding  the  wind, 
folly.  The  works  of  the  Scholastics 
would  occupy  a life  of  serious  study ; 
and  we  may  say,  with  Lord  Bacon, 
that  ‘ ‘ they  end  in  monstrous  alter- 
cations and  barking  questions,  by 
means  whereof  men  have  withheld 
themselves  too  much  from  the  con- 
tem  plation  o f 1ST  ature  an  d the  obser  va- 
tions  of  experience,  and  have  tumbled 
up  and  down  in  their  own  conceits 
. . . This  kind  of  degenerate  learn- 
ing did  chielly  reign  amongst  the 
schoolmen,  who  having  sharp  and 
strong  wits,  and  abundance  of  leisure 
and  small  variety  of  reading,  but 
their  wits  being  shut  up  in  the  cells 
of  a few  authors  (chiefly  Aristotle, 
their  dictator),  as  their  persons  were 
shut  up  in  the  cells  of  monasteries 
and  colleges,  and  knowing  little  his- 
tory, either  of  Nature  or  Time,  did 
out  of  no  great  quantity  of  matter 
and  infinite  agitations  of  wit  spin 
out  into  us  those  laborious  webs  of 
learning  which  are  extant  in  their 
books.  . . . For  the  two  ways  of 
contemplation  are  not  unlike  the 
two  ways  of  action  commonly  spoken 
of  by  the  ancients.  The  one  plain 
and  smooth  in  the  beginning,  and 


UPON  IMMENSITY. 


22 


As  in  the  Italian  dialogues  on  Infinity,  this  work  on 
Immensity  is  entirely  occupied  with  the  infinity  of  the 
universe.  The  globe  which  we  inhabit  is  a planet,  and 
therefore  it  does  not  constitute  a world  in  itself.  All 
planets,  like  the  earth,  must  be  filled  with  life,  with 
plants  and  animals,  and  with  beings  endowed  as  we  are 
with  reason.  The  sun,  round  which  the  earth  turns,  is 
not  the  only  sun ; there  are  multitudes  of  suns,  as  there 
are  myriads  of  planets.  Of  this  splendid  and  majestic 
parade  of  stars  and  heavenly  bodies  the  universe  is  made. 
All  is  filled  with  infinity,  and  beyond  infinity  there  is 
nothing.  In  fine,  since  the  universe  exists  and  since  it 
is  immense,  God  is  present  in  it.  In  him  it  lives  and 
moves  and  has  its  being ; for  he  is  Being,  eternal,  in- 
finite, one  only,  the  Being  of  beings.  If  God  is  illimited 
Being,  his  palace  is  without  limits  also  (p.  i 5 3). 

“ The  destiny  of  man  is  made  plain  by  the  order  and 
harmony  of  the  universe,  as  well  as  by  his  own  natural 
organisation. 


in  tlie  end  impassable ; the  other 
rough  and  troublesome  in  the  en- 
trance, but  after  a while  fair  and 
even.  So  it  is  in  contemplation  ; if  a 
man  will  begin  with  certainties,  he 
shall  end  in  doubts  ; but  if  he  will 
be  content  to  begin  with  doubts,  he 
shall  end  in  certainties.” 

The  pedant  who  began  with  cer- 
tainties ended,  as  a rule,  in  doubts. 
“ Great  scholars,”  says  De  Quineey, 
“were  poor  as  thinkers.”  They 
could  turn  Latin  into  Greek  out  of 
hand,  and  without  a lexicon,  but 
though  they  could  correct  Cicero, 
they  spoke  their  native  tongue  like 
peasants,  and  they  read  so  much 
that,  as  Scaliger  said  of  Marcilius, 
“ he  read  himself  into  ignorance.” 
Scioppius,  when  writing  of  the  vices 
which  infect  the  art  of  grammar, 
says,  with  his  usual  love  of  vileness, 
that  Crates,  who  first  studied  the 
art,  was  induced  to  do  so  by  falling 
into  a sewer,  and  that  grammar  pre- 
served for  ever  the  taint  of  its 


origin.  That  web  of  subtlety  and 
Spinozity,  the  Scholastic  theology, 
however,  had  its  uses.  As  it  was  the 
work  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  re- 
discover antiquity,  so  it  was  the 
work  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  de- 
cipher antiquity.  Cicero  and  Yirgil, 
Livy  and  Ovid,  so  long  shelved  in 
dark  corners,  were  now  studied  by 
scholars  who,  if  they  wrangled  over 
words,  did  so  with  authority,  since 
they  were  better  acquainted  with 
dead  languages  than  with  their 
own.  Indeed,  the  Middle  Ages  coun- 
tenanced no  science  but  theology. 
Even  the  classics  were  believed  by  the 
people  to  be  written  by  the  monks, 
who,  for  their  part,  made  light  of 
the  distinction  ; for  it  was  their 
custom,  when  signifying  a wish  for 
Yirgil  or  Horace,  or  any  other 
heathen  work,  while  under  the  dis- 
cipline of  silence,  to  scratch  their 
ears  like  a dog,  because  dogs  and 
Pagans  were  associations  familiar 
and  agreeable  to  the  mind. 


224 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


“ Every  being,  by  virtue  of  his  organisation,  aspires 
towards  the  end  of  his  existence.  The  more  noble  a 
nature,  the  more  active  his  striving  after  good.  Thus  it 
is  with  man.  Man,  in  truth,  is  of  all  creatures  the  only 
one  destined  to  a double  perfection,  that  of  the  soul  and 
body.  Man  is  placed  upon  the  limits  of  time  and  eter- 
nity, between  perfection  and  its  faint  imperfect  image, 
between  reason  and  sense.  He  shares  in  this  existence, 
he  passes  from  extreme  to  extreme,  upright  on  the  verge 
and  horizon  of  Nature. 

j “ His  true  destiny  is  perfection  of  spirit.  His  spirit 
indeed  is  an  indivisible,  independent,  divine  thing,  lord 
of  matter,  not  its  vassal ; living  by  its  own  virtue,  entire 
and  invulnerable  in  all  parts,  endowed  with  inexhaustible 
force,  invested  with  the  power  of  beholding  eternal  truth, 
always  acting  and  having  power  to  overcome  outer  things 
and  itself.  The  body  is  contrary  to  the  spirit.  It  is 
finite,  limited,  subject;  in  itself  nothing  save  a means 
and  an  instrument.  . . . Now,  what  in  life  is  the  due 
calling  of  the  spirit  ? This  is  evident : to  seize  supreme 
truth  by  means  of  the  reason,  and  to  practise  sovereign 
good  by  means  of  the  will.  This  vocation  of  man  is 
proved  by  his  insatiate  untiring  reason  and  will.  The 
spirit  no  sooner  perceives  goodness  or  light  than  its 
desires  and  investigations  awake ; for  the  instinct  of  per- 
fection is  born  within  us ; we  cannot  endure  that  which 
is  divided,  fleeting,  in  part  imperfect ; we  look  for  all 
things  to  be  full,  lasting,  universal,  and  necessary. 

“ Even  our  senses,  with  our  imagination,  have  an  illimi- 
table domain  ; howsoever  directed,  they  discover  a centre, 
but  they  can  attain  to  no  circumference.  The  need  of 
infinite  perfection  by  which  we  are  possessed  is  not  in 
vain  ; it  is  no  caprice  nor  superfluity  of  thought ; it  is 
real  and  lasting,  the  most  noble  and  the  most  lawful 

v of  our  desires.  The  whole  creation,  in  all  its  splendour, 
' offers  us  satisfaction.  Since,  then,  it  is  the  high  call- 
ing of  man  to  comprehend  the  universe,  let  him  raise  his 


OF  IMMENSITY. 


eyes  and  his  thoughts  to  the  heavens  which  surround  him, 
and  the  flying  worlds  above.  They  are  a picture,  a book, 
a mirror,  wherein  he  can  behold  and  read  the  forms  and 
the  laws  of  supreme  goodness,  the  plan  and  total  of  perfec- 
tion. There  is  ineffable  harmony,  and  beyond  the  stars  is 
the  height  from  which  he  shall  behold  all  the  generations 
of  men  and  all  the  ages  of  the  earth.  Let  him  be  with- 
out fear,  for  he  that  thirsts  after  immensity  shall  take  no 
thought  for  the  present,  nor  for  the  things  of  this  world. 
Let  no  vain  scruple  withhold  him  from  wondering  with- 
out ceasing  at  the  glory  of  the  Divinity  and  the  august 
dwelling  of  the  Most  High.  To  consider  the  stars  in 
their  sublime  array,  still  choiring  the  glory  of  their  Lord, 
is  the  most  worthy  occupation  of  man.  The  persuasion 
that  there  is  indeed  a Sovereign,  the  Upholder,  rejoices 
the  soul  of  the  sage,  and  causes  him  to  despise  the  fan  of 
vulgar  souls,  which  is  death  ” (B.  i.  c.  i.) 

Two  obstacles  are  declared  by  Bruno  to  encumber  true 
philosophy  : the  first  is  the  preference  given  to  the  senses 
and  to  appearances,  instead  of  to  the  understanding  and 
to  reality ; the  second  is  the  precedence  given  to  sects 
rather  than  to  disinterested  love  of  virtue.  The  sectarian 
spirit  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  “ When  science  is  made 
traffic,  wisdom  and  justice  shall  quit  the  earth.  Of  all 
miserable  men,  they  are  the  most  miserable  who  practise 
philosophy  to  gain  their  daily  bread,  . . . and  he  is 
richest  who  despises  inches  ”(155).  Of  the  errors  of  the 
senses  he  says,  “ While  insisting  that  we  are  deceived 
by  our  judgment  and  not  by  our  perception,  you  invoke 
the  law  of  the  senses,  I appeal  to  the  law  of  nature,  which 
cannot  be  other  than  the  law  of  reason.  . . . When  we 
go  up  into  a high  place  and  look  around  us,  do  we  not 
imagine  the  earth  is  bounded  by  the  sky  ? As  we  advance 
towards  that  boundary  it  withdraws,  and  beholding  a new 
extent  of  heaven  and  earth,  we  are  forced  to  extend  the 
horizon,  and  it  would  extend  to  infinity  if  we  were  but 
able  to  follow  it.”  “ It  is  not  the  senses,”  Bruno  con- 

P 


226 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


tinues,  “ which  deceive  us ; they  confirm  reason.”  This 
argument  repeats  a passage  in  the  beginning  of  the  In- 
finity (W.  ii.  1 8).  “ The  vale,”  says  Lord  Bacon,  “ best 

discovereth  the  hill ; ” and  our  senses  deceive  us,  not  be- 
cause they  are  deceitful,  but  because  we  misapply  them. 

We  have  next  a curious  passage  on  the  movement  of  the 
earth.  Movement  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  sign 
and  result  of  life  ; and  since  the  earth  moves,  it  lives,1  and 
its  life  is  in  its  soul,  which  reposes  in  God,  as  our  souls  do. 
“ Since  the  universe  is  infinite,  it  is  unreasonable  to 
imagine  that  beyond  the  universe  there  is  space  as  in- 
finite as  the  universe  itself,  or  a heaven  into  which  God 
withdrew  himself  after  his  creation  of  the  world”(B.  i.c.  6). 

(It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  Infinity , God,  hav- 
ing ceased  from  his  labours,  is  compared  to  a fiddler  who 
might  play,  but  did  not  for  want  of  a fiddle.  But  it 
is  clear  that  God,  having  supreme  liberty,  might  either 
create  or  cease  creating,  and  to  say  otherwise  is  to  limit 
his  illimitable  power.) 

“ What,  then,  is  space  ? Is  it  immovable-  or  is  it 
superficial  ? No.  Space  is  a continuous  physical  quan- 


1 It  is  a curious  fact  that  modern 
science  is  now  approaching  many 
theories  which  in  the  age  of  Bruno 
were  regarded  as  wild  and  visionary. 
As  a fact,  the  earth,  like  a living 
body,  is  in  a state  of  constant  move- 
ment. Our  globe  is  solid  nowhere. 
An  earthquake,  according  to  the 
recent  investigations  of  Mr.  Robert 
Mallet,  of  Mr.  Milne,  professor  of 
engineering  at  Tokio,  Japan,  and  of 
the  latest  Italian  inquirers,  is  but  a 
variety,  gigantic  in  its  proportions, 
of  a process  always  in  operation,  and 
part  of  the  regular  machinery  for 
the  action  of  Nature.  The  earth  is 
perpetually  breathing  and  sighing 
throughout  its  entire  frame.  There 
is,  moreover,  a larger  volume  in 
the  form  of  oscillations.  The  firm 
mountains  and  locks  are  in  truth 
a quivering  mass.  No  doubt,  be- 
cause the  world  is  thus  sensitive 


it  is  the  more  fitted  to  support 
the  innumerable  dependents  on  its 
bounty ; for  the  tide  of  microsco- 
pic earthquakes,  and  the  oscilla- 
tions beneath  which  great  expanses 
of  the  earth’s  wrapping  or  crust  are 
ascertained  to  dilate  and  contract, 
are  signs  that  Nature  is  not  dead  or 
torpid,  and  are  modes  in  which  it 
performs  its  infinite  functions.  The 
laws  which  laid  out ' the  earth  are 
active  still ; the  earth’s  action  is 
benevolent  and  potent  in  the  fine 
pulsations  which  only  the  most  deli- 
cate instrument  can  record,  and  in 
the  terrible  and  convulsive  shiver- 
ings  which  scar  the  surface  of  con- 
tinents. And  since  in  a mild  degree 
these  phenomena  are  present  within 
the  most  temperate  regions,  Nature, 
though  most  multiform  in  its  energy, 
shows  itself  to  he  the  more  uniform 
at  heart. 


OF  IMMENSITY. 


227 


tity,  constituted  of  three  dimensions,  capable  of  receiving 
all  magnitudes  and  bodies,  existing  before  and  after  all 
things.  It  is  not  a substance  nor  a property ; it  is  with, 
before,  and  after  all  things  ” (B.  i.  c.  8 ; ib.  c.  9).  (This 
definition  approaches  that  of  Newton  and  of  Clarke,  who 
consider  space  an  attribute  of  God.)  “ Space,”  Bruno 
continues  (c.  9),  “ cannot  be  told  from  space.  Our  senses 
are  overwhelmed  and  stricken  dumb  in  all  places.  If 
there  is  an  eternal  power,  its  action  is  entire  and  un- 
broken. If  being  is  goodness,  not-being  is  evil,  and  it 
follows  that  if  there  is  no  other  world  than  ours,  goodness 
is  finite  and  solitary,  while  evil  is  infinite  and  multiplied. 
God  being  the  most  simple  essence,  possibility  and  reality 
in  him  are  one  ; and  since  with  God  all  things  are  pos- 
sible, the  universe  is  infinite.”  This  reasoning  can,  how- 
ever, be  met  with  the  reply  that  since  with  God  all  things 
are  possible,  it  might  have  pleased  the  Everlasting  to  set 
bounds  to  the  universe.  Why  place  power  higher  than 
supreme  liberty  and  independence,  which  are  also  divine 
attributes  ? Moreover,  they  are  the  loftiest  aims  of  man. 
He  enjoys  them  in  a finite  measure,  but  why  conceive  of 
a God  who  does  not  enjoy  them  in  infinite  measure  ? 

The  thirteen  chapters  of  the  second  book  are  in  the 
same  strain.  “ Our  senses  show  us  that  there  are  imper- 
fections in  the  universe,  but  the  universe  embraces  the 
infinity  of  space  and  time,  while  our  senses  show  us  these 
in  part.  Doubtless  no  part  is  perfect  and  complete,  and 
the  whole  is  divine”  (Be  Immense,  p.  1 1). 

“ The  universe  may  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  finite 
and  infinite : infinite  with  regard  to  the  capacity  of  the 
human  soul,  and  finite  with  regard  to  the  Divine  power. 

It  is  infinite  because  it  is  the  effect  of  an  infinite  cause  ; S 
it  is  finite  because  it  is  an  effect  distinct  from  its  cause. 

It  is  infinite  so  long  as  the  Infinite  Being  wills ; it  is 
finite  because  it  depends  on  the  Infinite  Being,  who  may 
will  it  to  cease  and  to  dissolve,  with  its  uses,  fabric,  and 
dominion.” 


228 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


In  Books  iii.  and  iv.  tlie  ground  is  changed  and 
another  reform  is  advocated. 

The  tyranny  of  Aristotle,  the  routine  of  antiquity,  pro- 
voked Bruno’s  anger,  and  in  the  face  of  so  many  vast 
problems  he  pauses  to  attack  the  king  and  oracle  of  the 
schools.  “ It  is  better,”  he  cries  with  an  ironical  appli- 
cation of  the  words  of  Cicero,  Malo  cum  Platone  crrare 
quam  cum  aliis  rede  sentire — “ It  is  better  to  err  with 
Aristotle  than  to  follow  knowledge  with  another ; ” con- 
cluding, “ The  earth  and  the  planets  move  round  the  sun 
once  a year.”  (Between  the  year  of  Neptune,  the  outer- 
most planet,  and  our  own  year,  there  is  a difference  of 
nearly  sixty  thousand  days  or  163.6  years.)  “ The 
earth  is  not  a perfect  sphere  ” (B.  iv.  c.  1 7).  “ The 

moon  has  spots ; these  spots  indicate  the  continents,  and 
the  luminous  parts  the  sea.  The  sun  must  contain  living 
beings  of  whom  the  nature  is  unknown  to  us,  but  in  all 
likelihood  they  are  superior  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth”  (379).  (Huygens,  who  defines  the  figure,  manners, 
and  learning  of  the  people  of  the  stars,  declares  the  sun 
to  be  uninhabitable.) 

The  remarkable  theory  of  the  Cabal  is  repeated  in 
Book  v. 

In  the  Monad  (c.  iv.)  Bruno  speaks  of  the  spirit  as  “ a 
medium  establishing  communication  between  the  soul  and 
the  body;  ” he  accords  to  this  spiritual  principle  the  title 
of  “ architect  of  the  body;”  and  in  this  place  he  attri- 
butes a like  principle  to  the  earth  (see  W.  i.  242),  a 
vital  spark  which  is  a spirit  of  motion.  That  which 
lives,  moves;  and  all  moving  things  have  life.  “All 
things  live ; the  celestial  bodies  are  animated  beings ; all 
things  on  the  face  of  the  earth  and  things  under  the 
earth  have,  in  a certain  measure  and  according  to  their 
state,  the  gift  of  feeling  ; the  stone  itself  feels  in  a fashion 
Avhich  escapes  the  definition  of  man.” 

A passage  from  the  Cause  (W.  i.  242)  will  serve  to 
explain  this  point. 


OF  IMMENSITY. 


229 


££  If,  therefore,  spirit,  soul,  life,  are  found  in  all  things, 
in  ordained  degrees  filling  the  whole  of  matter,  the  spirit 
is  clearly  the  true  actuality  and  the  true  form  of  all  things. 
Therefore  the  soul  of  the  world  is  the  constituting  formal 
principle  of  the  universe,  and  of  that  contained  in  the 
universe.  I say,  that  if  life  is  found  in  all  things,  the 
soul  is  the  form  of  all  things,  for  it  is  throughout  the 
ruler  and  governor  of  matter,  and  it  governs  compound 
things,  producing  composition  and  consistency  in  the 
parts.  . . . This  I look  upon  as  the  unity  of  all  things ; 
for,  according  to  the  diversity  of  the  dispositions  of 
matter,  and  according  to  the  power  of  the  active  and 
passive  principles  in  matter,  this  (unity)  produces  diverse 
figurations  and  faculties. 

££  The  outward  form  alone  changes  and  perishes,  be- 
cause it  is  not  a thing,  but  of  a thing ; it  is  not  sub- 
stance, but  the  accident  and  circumstance  of  substance.”  1 

Parts  of  this  work  are  devoted  to  the  theory  of 


1 The  views  of  Bruno  (more  espe- 
cially as  they  are  expressed  in  the 
works  printed  at  Frankfort)  will  be 
found  to  coincide  in  a remarkable 
manner  with  what  is  said  by  Her- 
bert Spencer  on  function.  “ Does 
life  produce  organisation  ? ” he  asks 
( Principles  of  Biology,  v ol.  i.  p.  152), 
“ or  does  organisation  produce  life  ? ” 
And  after  alluding  to  the  obscurity 
in  which  these  problems  are  wrapt, 
he  says,  “ There  is  one  fact  imply- 
ing that  function  must  be  regarded 
as  taking  precedence  of  structure  ; ” 
and  proceeds  to  draw  the  following 
conclusions,  “ to  be  accepted  for  as 
much  as  they  seem  worth:” — “ But 
since  the  passing  from  a structure- 
less state  to  a structured  state  is 
itself  a vital  process,  it  follows  that 
vital  activity  must  have  existed 
while  there  was  yet  no  structure  ; 
structure  could  not  else  arise.  That 
function  takes  precedence  of  struc- 
ture seems  also  implied  in  the  de- 
finition of  life.  If  life  consists  of 
inner  actions  so  adjusted  as  to 
balance  outer  actions,  if  the  actions 


are  the  substance  of  life,  while  the 
adjustment  of  them  constitutes  its 
form,  then  may  we  say  that  the 
actions  to  be  formed  must  come  before 
that  ivhich  forms  them — that  the 
continuous  change  which  is  the 
basis  of  function  must  come  before 
the  structure  which  brings  function 
into  shape. 

“ Or,  again,  since  throughout  all 
phases  of  life  up  to  the  highest, 
every  advance  is  the  effecting  of 
some  better  adjustment  of  inner  to 
outer  actions,  and  since  the  accom- 
panying new  complexity  of  structure 
is  simply  a means  of  making  possible 
this  better  adjustment,  it  follows  that 
f unction  is  from  beginning  to  end  the 
determining  cause  of  structure.” 

That  relation  of  the  atoms  to  each 
other,  on  which  existence  depends, 
has  been  called  “ the  expression  of 
the  arrangement  of  the  atoms,  which 
is  force  ; ” and  as  an  “expression  of 
arrangement  ” necessarily  has  prece- 
dence over  the  matter  arranged,  so 
function  may  be  thought  of  as  the 
predecessor  of  structure. 


230 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


comets.  ( Dc  Max.  B.  i.  iv.  vi.)  Bruno  had  collected  a 

number  of  observations  upon  the  “ great  star  ” which 
appeared  suddenly  in  November  1572  in  Cassiopeia,  and 
as  suddenly  vanished  in  the  month  of  April  1574;  and 
he  asserts  that  the  researches  of  Tycho  Brahe  have  led 
him  to  the  conclusion  that  comets  are  not  fiery  meteors, 
but  celestial  bodies,  whose  motion  across  the  plains  of  air 
is  positive  proof  that  neither  the  earth  nor  the  stars  are 
enclosed  within  a solid  crystal  sphere.  The  comet  is  a 
planet,  but  it  is  to  be  distinguished  from  ordinary 
planets.  Its  appearance  is  more  rare,  and  it  is  visible  to 
us  only  at  certain  periods  of  its  passage  round  the  sun. 
The  appearance  of  the  tail  is  a mere  accident ; our  earth, 
it  is  possible,  may  sometimes  appear  with  a train  of  fire, 
and  if  there  were  a comet  without  a tail,  it  would  be 
equally  one  in  substance  with  those  planets  which  are 
always  within  our  knowledge.  The  existence  of  the 
comet,  moreover,  proves  that  celestial  bodies  are  not  com- 
pounded of  an  essence  entirely  foreign  to  our  elements. 
The  uniformity  and  exactitude  of  their  motion,  their 
invariability  of  mass  and  constitution,  their  pure  and 
silvery  splendour,  the  duration  of  their  stay,  the  regularity 
with  which  they  return  to  visit  the  earth,  and  the  steadi- 
ness with  which  they  wax  and  wane,  force  the  conclusion 
upon  us  that  “comets  are  in  truth  stars.”  Bruno  even 
goes  so  far  as  to  declare  that  there  may  be  planets  which 
we  have  never  seen  (CLX.  Articles). 

“Truth,”  he  says  (Gfr.  495),  “ can  never  be  contrary 
to  truth,  nor  light  to  light.”  Again,  “ Behold  how  one 
truth  reveals  another”  (W.  i.  187).  “The  gilts  of  faith 
cannot  oppose  the  light  of  reason”  (Gfr.  495).  “God, 
who  cannot  deceive  nor  be  deceived,  who  is  not  jealous, 
but  who  is  supreme  goodness,  and  who  is  truth  itself  and 
bounty  itself,  is  the  God  of  the  philosopher  and  of  the 
theologian.  In  course  of  their  development,  religion  and 
philosophy  differ,  philosophy,  obeying  reason,  seeks  for 
evidence ; theology,  guided  by  faith,  silently  awaits  the 


COMPOSITION  OF  IMAGES,  SIGNS,  AND  IDEAS. 


231 


voice  of  revelation.  Tlie  philosopher  awaits  the  voice  of 
Nature,  which  is  in  truth  the  voice  of  Gocl,  who  is  the 
author  of  Nature  ” (Gfr.  495).  As  with  revealed  religion, 
philosophy  takes  its  stand  upon  indubitable  principles, 
which  are  self-evident,  and  which  give  certainty  to  the 
operations  of  science.  And  the  philosopher,  though 
cherishing  his  natural  perception  of  truth,  is  eager  to 
follow  the  traditions  of  religion.  Because  he  loves  to 
trace  the  infinite  within  all  finite  things,  he  studies 
sacred  books,  and  he  learns  the  myths,  prayers,  and 
hymns  inspired  by  piety  among  many  races  of  men  (W. 
ii.  308,  1 13,  9,  254;  Gfr.  175).  Never  forgetful  of 
these  numerous  sources  of  instruction  and  edification,  he 
does  not  presume  to  cite  the  Eternal  before  his  tribunal, 
but'  he  submits  the  results  of  all  things  to  the  examina- 
tion of  his  reason.  He  approaches  dogmas  and  doctrines 
on  their  natural  and  human  side,  leaving  that  which  is 
supernatural  and  miraculous  to  the  theologians.  “ Truth 
is  one,  as  God  is  one  ; but  it  can  be  approached  by  two 
ways,  either  by  thought  or  by  feeling.  Let  theology  then 
leave  to  philosophy  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  and  be 
contented  with  the  empire  of  faith,  and  with  the  divine 
grace  which  is  beyond  the  order  of  Nature  and  above  the 
calamities  of  our  present  state  of  being.” 

The  third  of  these  works,  and  the  last  which  Bruno 
was  enabled  to  print,  is  entitled  Of  the  Composition  of 
Images,  Signs,  ancl  Ideas } The  dedicatory  epistle  cele- 
brates the  power  of  the  grand  art  in  philosophy,  and 
especially  in  enlarging  the  sphere  of  the  perception. 
The  whole  of  the  work  of  God,  of  reason,  and  of  Nature, 
Bruno  declares  to  consist  in  the  idea  and  our  conception 
of  the  idea.  Nature,  in  a manner  that  is  highly  admir- 
able, reflects  the  mind  of  God,  and  is  in  its  turn  reflected 

1 “ This  book,”  writes  Berti  (236),  expressed  in  pointed  and  brilliant 
“would  be  reckoned  among  the  language.  Unfortunately  the  mag- 
Nolan’s  masterpieces  if  the  last  nificent  peristyle  is  but  the  screen 
pages  had  been  equal  to  the  first,  for  a mean  edifice  on  the  model  of 
which  are  full  of  profound  thought,  Lully.” 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


in  the  mind  of  man.  These  processes  are  related.  Both 
in  Nature  and  in  man  there  are  certain  elements,  and  by 
arranging,  combining,  moving,  subjoining  those  elements 
fresh  forms  are  produced.  But  simplicity,  self-continu- 
ance, and  unity  are  not  in  man,  and  they  are  not  in 
Nature.  Things  exist,  as  we  perceive  them,  in  combina- 
tion, comparison,  and  plurality ; we  understand  nothing 
if  we  do  not  at  the  same  time  contemplate  a form  or 
figure ; and  the  singleness  of  cause  and  principle  we 
behold,  as  it  were,  in  a glass  darkly.  Nature  holds  the 
mirror  up  to  us  (and  we  in  our  turn  hold  the  mirror  up 
to  Nature) ; and  by  the  light  of  reason  and  the  rules  of 
the  great  art  we  shall  behold  the  figures  in  this  vast 
mirror  shining  clearly,  and  pointing,  as  on  a dial,  to 
Unity,  which  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all.  Thus  the 
spirit  of  man  will  ascend  to  the  highest  truth  and  happi- 
ness ; and  the  object  of  this  treatise  is  to  equip  the 
student  for  the  just  conception  of  the  signs  and  symbols 
of  Unity  in  himself  and  in  Nature. 

Ideas  precede  things,  because  they  are  the  causes  of 
things ; the  marks  of  the  ideas  are  the  things  themselves 
or  in  the  things ; the  shadows  of  ideas  are  from  the 
things  or  after  the  things.  In  proportion  as  the  things 
of  Nature  are  more  perfect  than  those  shadows  of  ideas 
which  are  in  our  conception  and  understanding,  so  the 
original  idea  is  more  perfect  than  Nature. 

Bruno’s  inquiry  in  this  work  does  not  concern  things 
in  themselves,  but  their  marks  or  signs.  As  a bank-note 
passes  current  for  five  sovereigns,  so  our  idea  of  a rose 
passes  current  for  a rose,  though  we  are  acquainted  only 
with  the  outer  form  and  semblance  of  a rose,  and  we  are 
in  gross  ignorance  of  its  true  being,  that  exquisite  quint- 
essence and  ethereal  spirit,  that  wild,  luxuriant,  and 
humble  sweetness  which  circles  under  its  tinted  petals 
and  fills  the  air  with  springs  of  beauty.  Its  delicacy  and 
loveliness  escape  expression  ; for  every  form  in  Nature 
which  is  discernible  to  the  understanding,  no  matter  how 


COMPOSITION  OF  IMAGES,  SIGNS,  AND  IDEAS.  233 


it  is  deciphered,  must  be  placed  upon  the  intellectual 
horizon — that  is,  it  must  be  figurative. 

These  images  may  be  discerned  and  considered  from 
a physical,  mathematical,  or  logical  aspect.  Therefore 
Bruno  assumes  that  a just  contemplation  of  Nature  will 
display  the  forms  of  things  to  the  thinker ; for  matter 
does  not  contribute  so  much  to  the  production  of  things 
of  Nature  as  idea  and  form.  In  the  idea  and  principle 
all  things  meet,  and  they  represent  Unity. 

In  man  the  understanding  and  memory  correspond 
with  idea  and  form.  Nature  is  a shadow,  for  Nature  is 
a type  and  mark  of  the  Divine,  a living  mirror,  in 
which  we  behold  pictures 1 of  natural  things,  and  the 
shadow  of  Divinity.  Nature  contains  the  idea  (form)  as 
its  cause  and  principle.  In  the  same  manner  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  object  is  the  basis  of  understanding  in 
the  artist,  and  determines  his  work.  But  in  Nature  the 
idea  is  in  truth  the  substance ; for  the  idea  is  in  matter, 
producing  countless  forms  in  eternal  vicissitude.  Here, 
to  guard  against  misconception,  Bruno  immediately  de- 
fines Form  under  twelve  aspects,  the  first  of  which  is  the 
Idea,  the  metaphysical  principle,  form  in  general,  “ the 
basis  of  which  is  above  Nature.” 

Next  comes  a peculiar  and  poetic  treatment  of  the 
theory  of  light.  Light  in  general  is  an  invisible  sub- 
stance, diffused  throughout  infinity  ; it  is  the  vehicle  of 
pictures,  inherent  to  all  parts  of  the  universe,  and  by  a 


1 “There  are  many  ideas,”  says 
Buhle,  ‘ 1 in  this  work  which  might 
be  useful  to  artists,  if  they  could  be 
induced  to  search  for  material  in 
books.”  The  book,  an  improved  and 
enlarged  recapitulation  of  the  Sha- 
dows of  Ideas,  is  dedicated  to  J.  H. 
Hainzel,  a member  of  a distinguished 
Protestant  family  at  Augsburg.  His 
father  fostered  artistic  and  literary 
merit,  and  his  uncle,  Paul  Hainzel, 
constructed  a large  astronomical 
quadrant  under  the  direction  of 
Tycho  Brahe.  The  patron  of  Bruno’s 
book,  after  a misunderstanding  with 


the  Town  Council  of  Augsburg  on 
the  reform  of  the  calendar,  threw  up 
his  rights  as  a citizen  and  went  to 
Ulm,  where  he  composed  a pasquin- 
ade on  his  brother  councillors,  which 
so  exasperated  them,  that,  having 
with  great  want  of  circumspection 
re-entered  their  precincts,  he  was 
seized  and  imprisoned.  He  escaped, 
and  after  spending  a short  time  in 
Zurich,  he  bought  a property  at 
Haldenstein  near  Chur,  and  after- 
wards the  estate  of  Elgg  or  Elgau  in 
Zurich.  Here  his  acquaintance  was 
probably  made  by  Bruno. 


23t 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


constant  connection  and  mingling  of  this  substance  with 
the  darkness  it  is  turned  into  light. 

The  same  comparison  holds  good  in  supernatural  things. 
God,  who  is  the  primal  light,  must  first  mingle  with  the 
darkness  and  shadow  of  material  things  before  he  can 
be  discerned  by  our  eyes.  Our  method  is  faulty  if  we 
confound  pure  and  simple  light  with  compounded  per- 
ceptible light,  such  as  sunlight.  Not  our  soul  alone,  but 
the  soul  of  the  world  also  is  gifted  with  pure  spiritual 
light,  and  it  is  the  foundation  of  that  faculty  of  the  mind 
by  which  we  see  in  waking  or  in  dreams  figures  which 
are  absent,  and  this  without  the  help  of  sunlight  or  any 
common  fire.  By  this  power  man  is  enabled  not  only 
to  call  up  the  visible  world  in  the  recesses  of  his  spirit, 
but  by  means  of  comparison  and  combination  to  raise  a 
countless  multitude  of  appearances  and  to  walk  like  a new 
Adam  in  a world  of  new  creation.  This  faculty  is  the 
source  of  pictures.  If  we  withhold  from  it  the  name  of 
light,  we  may  call  it  the  sense  of  the  senses  or  spirit  of 
the  fancy.  It  seizes  forms,  links  them  together,  draws 
new  inferences,  and  stores  them  in  the  memory.  With 
Locke,  Bruno  looks  upon  the  memory  as  the  store- 
house of  ideas  ( horreuvi  specierum ),  the  keys,  the  door- 
keeper, and  door  of  which  is  the  Will. 

“As  the  forms  of  Nature  cannot  objectively  exist  without 
matter  and  a certain  subject  (for  all  compounded  bodies 
require  matter,  size,  and  space),  in  the  same  manner  the 
representations  of  the  senses  and  the  mind  require  a real 
or  represented  subject,  and  the  compounded,  real,  or 
imagined  representations  cannot  exist  without  place  and 
limitations.”  According  to  Ivant,  space  is  not  a form 
of  the  existence  of  objects  in  themselves.  Only  from 
the  point  of  view  of  human  beings  can  we  speak  of  space, 
extended  beings,  &c.  If  we  make  abstraction  of  the  sub- 
jective condition,  under  which  alone  external  intuition  is 
possible  for  us,  i.e.,  under  which  alone  we  can  be  affected 
by  external  objects,  the  idea  of  space  has  absolutely  no 


COMPOSITION  OF  IMAGES,  SIGNS,  AND  IDEAS.  235 


signification.  Space  is  real,  i.e.,  is  an  objectively  valid 
conception  in  respect  of  everything  which  can  be  pre- 
sented to  us  as  an  object  of  external  perception,  but  it 
is  ideal  in  respect  of  things  when  they  are  considered  by 
the  reason  as  they  are  in  themselves,  and  without  refer- 
ence to  the  sensible  nature  of  man. 

By  an  altogether  analogous  metaphysical  and  trans- 
cendental exposition  of  the  conception  of  time,  Kant  seeks 
also  to  demonstrate  its  empirical  reality  and  transcendental 
ideality.  Like  space,  time  is  not  a thing  subsisting  for 
itself,  or  so  inherent  as  an  objective  qualification  or  order 
in  things  that  if  abstraction  were  made  of  all  subjective 
conditions  of  perception  time  would  remain.  Time  is 
in  itself,  out  of  the  conscious  subject,  nothing;  it  cannot 
be  reckoned  among  objects  in  themselves,  apart  from 
its  relation  to  our  sensible  intuitions,  either  as  subsisting 
or  as  inhering.  To  the  objection  that  the  reality  of 
the  change  in  our  ideas  proves  the  reality  of  time, 
Kant  replies  that  the  objects  of  the  “ internal  sense,” 
like  those  of  the  external  sense,  are  only  phenomena 
having  two  aspects,  the  one  regarding  the  object  in  itself, 
the  other  the  form  of  our  intuition  (perception)  of  the 
object,  which  form  must  not  be  sought  in  the  object  in 
itself,  but  in  the  subject  to  which  it  appears. 

But  this  analogy  in  thought  stops  short  in  its  highest 
aspect.  With  Bruno,  man  is  a mirror  within  a mirror ; 
and  his  perception  of  things  is  a reflection  of  Nature, 
which  is  the  reflection  of  the  thought  of  God.  In  the 
words  of  Bruno,  “ The  act  of  the  divine  cognition  is  the 
substance  of  things.” 

Kant,  on  the  other  hand,  while  recognising  the  un- 
reality of  the  real  and  fully  acknowledging  the  reality  of 
the  ideal,  is  divided  from  the  pure  idealism  of  Bruno, 
and  does  not  go  beyond  the  thought  that  form  and 
matter,  idea  and  appearance,  are  one.  He  does  not  grasp 
the  masterly  conception  that  form  and  idea  are  the  only 
truths,  and  that  appearance  and  matter  are  finite  and 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


236 

■ changing  shapes,  figurated  by  our  minds,  which  are  finite, 

| but  not  having  more  relation  to  infinity  than  the  type  in 
which  a book  is  printed  has  relation  to  the  writer’s 
thought.  Bruno  denies  true  being  to  compound  things, 
which  require  matter,  size,  and  space ; for  these  are 
shadows,  fugitive  types,  and  marks  of  the  Divine ; and  by 
contemplating  the  mind  as  a storehouse  for  the  forms 
of  Nature,  a gallery  as  it  were  of  statues  and  pictures, 
themselves  but  the  vestiges  and  imperfect  traces  of  the 
Divine  Primal  Idea,  he  is  careful  to  distinguish  between 
the  faint  copies  of  the  ideal  which  are  in  the  mind,  and 
the  true  ideal  reality  or  real  ideality  in  which  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being. 

These  images  are  derived  from  the  fount  of  forms,  the 
primal  idea  and  principle  which  is  above  Nature.  Every 
form  in  Nature  which  is  discernible  to  the  understanding, 
no  matter  how  it  is  indicated,  must  be  created  anew  or 
figurated  in  the  intellect.  This  process  of  creation  is  re- 
lated to  the  process  by  which  Nature  receives  at  the  hand 
of  the  great  fount  of  forms  and  primal  idea  those  shapes 
and  beings  which  she  reproduces ; and  it  will  be  noted 
that  this  philosophy  differs  from  that  of  Descartes,1  be- 
cause it  advances  from  “ I know  Nature,  therefore  it  is,” 
to  “ Nature  knows  God,  therefore  he  is.” 

Bruno  furnishes  the  reader  with  a quantity  of  rules  for 
the  marks  and  signs  of  ideas  which  precede  things  of 
Nature,  as  form  in  the  mind  of  the  artist  precedes  the  work 
of  art ; and  these  ideas  abide  in  Nature,  as  the  mind  of  the 
artist  abides  in  the  work  of  art ; they  are  in  man  as  he 
receives  the  impression  of  the  artist’s  mind  when  behold- 
ing a work  of  art.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that 
Bruno’s  philosophy  is  remote  from  the  extreme  imma- 
terialism  of  Bishop  Berkeley  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
physical  and  pantheistic  views  on  the  other.  In  opposition 


1 “ It  seems  to  me  that  I may  tinctly  and  clearly  are  true.” — Res- 
adopt  as  a general  rule  that  all  cartes,  Meditationes  de  Prinna  Philo- 
things  which  I conceive  very  dis-  sophia,  Med.  iii. 


COMPOSITION  OF  IMAGES,  SIGNS,  AND  IDEAS.  237 


to  Hobbes,  who  assumed,  with  Democritus  and  the  Epi- 
cureans, that  the  body  accounted  for  the  mind,  and  that 
matter  was  the  root  of  the  universe,  Berkeley  taught  that 
there  is  no  material  substance,  and  that  all  ideas  may  be 
reduced  to  mind  and  ideas  in  a mind.  Bruno,  choosing 
a middle  course,  says  plainly  that  “ in  Nature  it  is 
necessary  to  recognise  two  kinds  of  substance  ; the  first, 
which  is  form,  and  the  second,  which  is  matter  ” (W. 
i.  251);  continuing,  “It  is  manifest  to  every  man  that 
it  is  not  possible  that  this  power  can  always  make 
all  things  without  that  which  always  made  all  things. 
How  can  the  soul  of  the  world,  which  is  form,  itself  indi- 
visible, produce  forms  without  the  subject  of  extension 
or  quantity,  which  is  matter  ? ” Here  it  is  essential 
to  refer  this  passage  to  the  foregoing  passages  in  the 
Composition  of  Images.  Though  we  are  unable  to  con- 
ceive even  in  our  minds  of  any  material  thing  without 
form,  or,  as  Bruno  says,  without  figure,  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  true  being  is  possessed  of  figure.  The 
attributes  of  true  being  and  the  higher  qualities  of  our 
nature  are  without  shape  and  dimension  in  the  abstract : 
but  it  is  a property  of  the  finite  to  require  limits  and 
shackles,  for  these  comfort  the  soul  under  the  awe  excited 
by  unmeasured  spaces,  and  by  wonder,  which  Bacon  says 
is  the  garment  of  God.  Love,  when  harboured  in  a 
beloved  form,  possesses  the  shape  of  beauty,  and  is  the 
very  mould  of  form  ; but  love  in  the  abstract  is  not  sub- 
ject to  shape,  though  our  finite  minds  attach  it  to  an 
obj  ect.  Truth  is  without  figure ; so  with  the  other 
Divine  attributes.  When,  therefore,  matter  is  stripped 
away,  possibility  is  no  more  ; we  come  face  to  face  with 
reality ; and  the  pure  power  untranslated  to  us  by  its 
effects  will  be  revealed  to  us. 


( 238  ) 


CHAPTER  X. 

In  the  capacities  and  parts  of  men  there  are  three  sorts  of  degrees  ; one 
man  understands  of  himself,  another  understands  what  is  explained, 
and  a third  understands  neither  of  himself  nor  by  any  explanation. 
The  first  is  excellent,  the  second  commendable,  the  third  altogether 
unprofitable.” — Machiavelli,  The  Prince. 


Zurich.  Padua.  The  Trial  at  Venice. 

The  work  on  the  Threefold  Minimum  was  printed  to  the 
very  last  sheet ; the  second,  on  the  Monad , was  certainly 
begun,  when,  a little  before  the  13th  February  159 1, 
Bruno  suddenly  left  Frankfort,  not  even  taking  time 
to  write  his  dedication  to  Duke  Henry  Julius,  and  con- 
fiding to  his  publishers  the  task  of  delivering  the  work  to 
his  patron.  All  that  is  known  of  his  sudden  departure 
we  learn  from  the  printer  Wechel,  who  says  in  the  dedica- 
tion of  one  of  these  books  that  Bruno  was  “ forced  by  an 
unexpected  event  to  leave  the  city  ” before  his  work  was 
finished. 1 


1 This  was  not  due,  as  Professor 
Carriere  has  pointed  out  (Allgemeine 
Zcitung,  292,  294,  1868),  to  the  in- 
vitation of  Mocenigo,  but  to  some 
rupture,  all  trace  of  which  is  now 
lost.  The  following  entry  appears 
in  the  Censur  Register  of  Frank- 
fort:— “Johann  Wechel  is  permitted 
to  print  the  small  Latin  book  in  8vo, 
under  the  title  of  Jordani  Bruni 
Nolani,  De  Tri/plici  Minimo  ct  Men- 
sura,  on  the  17th  March  1591.”  No 
such  permission  appears  to  have 


been  granted  for  printing  the  two 
other  works  which  appeared  in 
Frankfort. 

In  the  Catalogue  of  the  fair  for 
Easter,  1591,  Be  Triplici  Minimo 
appears  among  the  poetical  works 
issued  in  that  city.  The  Monad  and 
the  work  on  the  Images,  Signs,  and 
Ideas  are  not  in  these  lists,  perhaps 
because  they  may  have  lain  under 
the  censure  of  the  authorities.  But 
in  the  catalogue  compiled  in  1592 
by  Nicholas  Bassano,  bookseller,  of 


THE  TIES  OF  HOME. 


=39 


Whatever  may  be  the  reason,  Bruno's  departure  was 
clearly  a matter  of  necessity,  and  it  was  equally  neces- 
sary that  he  should  not  be  too  far  away  from  the  town 
where  two  of  his  works  were  passing  through  the  press. 
Tempted  by  the  thought  of  revisiting  his  country,  he 
drew  a little  nearer  to  the  borders  of  Italy,  hoping,  no 
doubt,  that  in  the  sweetness  of  home  he  might  less  per- 
ceive the  bitterness  of  life. 

It  was  long  since  he  had  quitted  his  native  land  to  be- 
come a wanderer  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  “ He  would 
have  done  well,”  says  Bayle,  “ had  he  continued  his 
journeyings.”  “ Providence,”  writes  Lacroze,  “ led  him 
back  to  cut  short  the  sum  of  his  errors ; ” and  indeed  the 
heavy  hand  of  the  Church  was  all  too  soon  to  be  laid  upon 
him  in  correction.  Strange  to  say,  as  yet  he  had  not 
once  entered  into  personal  conflict  with  the  Catholic 
party.  His  name  was  well  known  on  both  sides  of  the 
Alps,  but,  so  far  as  evidence  is  forthcoming,  he  had  for 
many  years  fallen  into  no  serious  difficulties  with  the 
Church.  A fugitive  monk,  and  under  the  ban  of  excom- 
munication, he  not  only  escaped  molestation  in  Paris  and 
Toulouse,  but  obtained  some  standing  in  both  cities.  Ac- 
cording to  the  evidence  of  Fra  Domenico  da  Nocera,  a 
professor  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Dominic  of  Naples  (Doc. 
x.),  Bruno  asserted  that  he  had  put  off  the  habit  because 
he  was  forbidden  to  wear  it  by  Fra  Domenico  Vita,  the 
Provincial  of  the  Order ; but  at  other  times  he  made  no 
secret  of  the  past,  though,  as  far  as  was  possible,  he  held 
himself  aloof  from  the  Church.  He  had  no  care  for  the 
morrow,  believing  that,  come  what  might,  he  w’as  chosen 
to  raise  such  a temple  to  God  as  would  brave  the  lapse  of 

Frankfort,  we  find,  “Jorclani  Bruni  A.  stand  respectively  for  the  vernal 
Nolani,  de  Triplici  Minimo.  1591.  and  autumnal  fairs  ; and  therefore 
V.  8.  Ejusdem,  Be  Monade,  Numero  it  is  clear  that  the  Monad  and  the 
et  Figv.ro,  Liber : item,  Be  Innumer-  book  upon  the  Idea  did  not  come 
abilibus,  Immense  et  Infigurabili . . . upon  the  market  till  some  six 
Libri.  1591.  A.  8.  Be  Imaginum  months  after  the  work  upon  the 
Signorum  et  Idcarum  Compositionc.  Minimum. 

1591.  A.  8.”  The  letters  V.  and 


240 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


ages  ( De  Min.  ii.  p.  8) ; for  lie  was  assured  that  it  was 
his  mission  to  proclaim  infinity  everywhere  present,  in 
things  great  and  small,  in  that  atom  or  monad  which 
is  inappreciable  to  the  senses,  as  in  the  suns  and 
stars  which  move  in  the  outermost  spaces  of  the  sky. 

“ The  wise  man,”  he  wrote  as  he  left  Frankfort,  with 
a strange  foreboding  of  his  fate,  “ fears  not  death  ; 
nay,  even  there  are  times  when  he  sets  forth  to  meet  it 
bravely.” 

Zurich,  then  containing  a large  company  of  Italian  re- 
fugees, offered  refuge  to  the  wanderer.  He  was  not  far 
removed  from  the  “ subtle  air  of  Italy,”  nor  too  distant  from 
his  work  in  Frankfort.  And  if  it  was  the  air  of  Tuscany 
which  lured  Galileo  1 away  from  the  University  of  Padua, 
it  was  no  less  certain  that  a lingering1  love  for  his  native 
land  drew  Bruno  nearer  to  Italy.  As  a philosopher, 
he  claimed  “ the  earth  for  his  mother  and  the  sun  for 
his  father,”  but  as  a man  his  heart  clung  to  the  village 
which  skirted  the  sea,  basking  among  vineyards  or  lying 
within  the  refreshing  shadow  of  Mount  Cicala.  Perhaps 
the  longing  to  see  his  home  awoke  as  he  met  his  country- 
men day  by  day  in  the  booksellers’  shops  in  Fi'ankfort, 
and  their  familiar  accents  called  up  before  his  mind  a 
vision  of  the  myrtles  and  laurels  of  Cicala,  of  the  vines  of 
Asprinio  near  Nola,  “ than  which  there  are  no  better  in 
the  world”  (W.  ii.  209),  and  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  its 
brightly  coloured  strand  gay  with  sunshine  such  as  never 
lights  the  chilly  shores  of  the  North.  Hainzel,  to  whom 
Bruno’s  last  printed  work  was  dedicated,  had  that  year 
acquired  the  castle  of  Elgg  or  Elgau  ; it  was  he,  probably, 
who  induced  the  Nolan  to  make  Zurich  his  halting-place. 

1 It  was  Galileo’s  motto  that  no  He  treats  science  as  Raphael  treated 
man  can  teach  the  truth  to  others  ; art,  widening,  creating,  but  never 
he  can  do  no  more  than  aid  them  to  pausing  in  his  activity  to  assume  the 
find  it  in  themselves.  This  was  the  passive  character  of  one  pointing 
theory  of  Bruno  and  of  Bacon  ; hut  out  a road  which  he  cannot  himself 
while  Bacon  is  content  with  teach-  follow, 
ing  how  to  discover,  Bruno  discovers. 


GIOVANNI  MOCENIGO. 


241 


Bat  whatever  the  causes  may  have  been  which  conspired 
to  drive  Bruno  suddenly  away  from  Frankfort,  it  is  clear 
that  his  departure  must  have  been  hastened,  not  only  by 
his  longing  to  see  Italy  once  more,  but  also  by  a letter 
which  he  is  known  to  have  received  from  Zuane  Mocenigo, 
a patrician  of  Venice.  One  of  those  offshoots  of  a noble 
house  which  gave  seven  Doges  to  Venice,  four  of  whom 
were  his  ancestors,  Giovanni  or  Zuane  Mocenigo  was  one 
in  whom  great  qualities  had  run  into  their  extremes. 
In  him  the  wisdom  of  his  forerunners  had  degenerated 
into  cunning,  and  their  strength  into  brutality.  He  had 
exhausted  the  vigour  natural  to  his  race  ; and  as  in  a vine 
a certain  quantity  of  grapes  must  be  pruned,  so  a share  of 
the  productions  of  the  human  race  appear  in  our  narrow 
vision  as  if  they  called  for  the  same  summary  treatment. 

A book  by  Bruno 1 — probably  a work  on  the  Art  of 
Lully — fell  into  the  hands  of  Ciotto,  a Venetian  book- 
seller, and  was  brought  by  him  to  Venice,  where  Mocenigo 
became  acquainted  with  it.  He  at  once  conceived  a lively 
desire  to  make  the  author's  acquaintance,  not,  it  may  be 
imagined,  from  any  love  of  learning,  but  partly  perhaps 
because  he  felt  his  own  deficiency,  and  hoped  to  remedy 
it  by  the  Art  of  Memory ; and  chiefly,  no  doubt,  because 
he  had  the  love  of  a weak  nature  for  the  marvellous. 


1 In  the  margin  of  the  sixth 
document  the  title  Heroici  Furori 
is  cancelled,  and  Be  Minima  Magno 
et  Mensura  is  substituted  for  it, 
showing  there  was  uncertainty  in 
Ciotto’s  recollection  of  the  particu- 
lar book  which  first  attracted  the 
attention  of  Mocenigo  to  Bruno. 
As  Sigwart  has  pointed  out  ( Ver- 
zeichniss  der  Doctoren,  p.  28),  the 
book  on  the  Minimum  was  scarcely 
finished  when  Bruno  quitted  Frank- 
fort, nor  could  it  have  reached 
Venice  at  the  earliest  until  after  the 
fair  at  Easter  in  1591.  Mocenigo 
owned,  moreover,  to  Ciotto  that  he 
desired  to  see  Bruno  in  order  to 
learn  “ the  secrets  of  memory  and 


others  which  he  professed”  (Doc. 
vi.),  and  the  contents  of  the  Mini- 
mum being  purely  metaphysical  and 
mathematical,  while  the  tenour  of 
the  Heroic  Rapture  is  chiefly  poetic, 
neither  of  these  works  were  likely  to 
rouse  curiosity  upon  the  mysterious 
science  of  Mnemonics.  The  book 
in  question  was,  more  probably, 
either  the  Song  of  Circe,  the  book 
on  Memory  printed  in  Paris,  or  the 
book  Be  Lampade  Combinatorial  of 
which  Bertano  speaks  in  his 
evidence  (Doc.  vii.)  as  “curious 
works,  and  finely  written,  and  works 
well  known  in  Frankfort,”  whence 
they  could  readily  make  their  w-ay 
to  Venice. 


Q 


242 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Tlie  question  now  remains,  When  did  Mocenigo’s  invi- 
tation reach  Bruno,  and  was  it  the  cause  of  his  leaving 
Frankfort  ? Scarcely,  or  why  was  Bruno  eight  months 
on  the  road  between  Frankfort  and  Venice  ; and  why  did 
he  wait  to  receive  a second  summons  ? In  the  “ last 
year,”  Bruno  says  in  his  evidence  (Doc.  viii.),  May  29, 
1592,  “ finding  myself  at  Frankfort,  I received  two  letters 
from  Sr.  Giovanni  Mocenigo,  a Venetian  gentleman,  in 
which  he  invited  me  to  go  to  Venice,  and  desired,  accord- 
ing to  that  which  he  wrote  to  me,  that  I should  teach  him 
the  art  of  memory  and  invention,  promising  to  treat  me 
well,  and  that  I should  be  satisfied  with  him  ; and  so  I 
came  about  seven  or  eight  months  ago.” 

A clue  to  Bruno’s  departure  from  Frankfort  is  with  far 
greater  likelihood  furnished  by  the  Burgomaster’s  book, 
with  its  entry  of  civic  excommunication  dated  the  2d  of 
July.  Yet  this  banishment  must  not  have  seemed  irre- 
vocable, or  why  in  the  same  document  (Doc.  viii.),  when 
desiring  to  take  leave  of  Mocenigo,  should  Bruno  assei’t 
that  he  had  taken  measure  to  despatch  his  packages  to 
Frankfort,  where  he  intended  to  return,  in  order  to  see  his 
books  through  the  press  ; and  again  (Doc.  ix.),  that  during 
his  stay  at  Venice  he  had  visited  Frankfort  afresh  ( e andcivo 
a Francoforti  di  novo  partendowii  di  qui)  in  order  to  have 
other  works  printed ; and  once  more  (Doc.  xvii.),  that  he 
purposed  “to  go  back  to  Frankfort  to  print  some  of  his 
works  on  the  seven  liberal  arts  and  on  seven  other  in- 
ventive arts  ” ? Some  quarrel,  such  as  he  had  already 
roused  in  a score  of  towns,  was  no  doubt  the  chief  cause 
of  his  sudden  departure  ; and  the  invitation  of  Mocenigo, 
added  to  the  inscrutable  spirit  of  wandering  by  which  the 
Nolan  was  possessed,  drove  him  onward  till  he  reached 
his  native  land.  Other  motives  too  led  him  to  put  this 
daring  plan  into  execution.  The  son  of  a soldier,  he  was 
not  blind  to  the  danger,  before  which  he  did  not  quail. 
He  was,  as  he  says  of  himself,  “ a man  with  no  head- 
piece  but  my  own”  (W.  i.  217),  “seeing  not  with  the 


THE  PHILOSOPHER  AND  THE  THEOLOGIAN.  243 


eyes  of  Copernicus  nor  of  Ptolemy,  but  with  his  own  ” 
(W.  i.  1 26).  “ Insane  atheism  ” (W.  ii.  1 20)  was  doomed 

by  him  to  destruction ; and — without  echoing  the  words 
of  Goethe,1  “ He  who  has  religion  needs  not  knowledge, 
and  he  who  has  knowledge  has  no  need  of  religion  ” — 
Bruno  did  not  hold  the  symbol  higher  than  the  thing 
symbolised ; for  he  taught  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
within  men,  and  he  believed  a church  to  be  little  better 
than  a prison  when  its  cold  dividing  stones  rose  up 
between  man  and  man,  or  shut  the  worshipper  out  from 
the  face  of  heaven.  But  at  his  trial  he  declared  himself 
willing  to  withdraw  certain  writings  in  which  he  had 
expressed  himself  not  altogether  (“  non  troppto  ”)  as  a 
good  Christian.  Following  Scot  as  Erigena,  and  Nicholas 
of  Cusa,  he  adhered  to  his  right  of  interpreting  the  doc- 
trines of  theology  as  a philosopher.  “We  may  not 
search  for  the  Divinity,”  he  writes,  “ beyond  the  infinite 
world  and  the  infinity  of  things,  but  behind  and  within 
them.  In  this  matter  alone  the  faithful  theologian  ap- 
pears to  differ  from  the  true  philosopher”  (W.  i.  275). 
Hence  it  follows  (W.  ii.  27)  that  theologians  who  are  both 
learned  and  religious  have  never  curtailed  the  liberty  of 
philosophers,  and  true  and  courteous  philosophers  have 
ever  favoured  religion  ; for  each  of  them  knows  that 
faith  is  required  for  the  maintenance  of  churlish  people, 
who  must  be  governed,  while  demonstration  is  for  con- 
templative men,  who  can  govern  themselves  and  others.” 
“ Let  the  Nolan,”  he  wrote  in  the  Supper  of  Ashes,  “ be 
taken  home  with  a torch,  and  if  that  be  too  much,  lend 
him  a lanthorn  with  a rushlight.”  In  the  words  of 
Lowell,  “ He  was  not  one  of  the  meechin  kind,  that  sets 
and  thinks  for  weeks  the  bottom’s  out  of  the  universe 
because  their  own  gill-pot  leaks.”  He  put  his  trust  in 
philosophy,  the  object  of  his  pursuit  from  his  youth 

1 An  interesting  article  on  the  in-  240,  Frankfort,  1886.  It  is  written 
flaence  of  Bruno  upon  Goethe  will  by  Dr.  Brunnhof'er,  who  has  treated, 
be  found  in  the  Goethe  Jahrbueh,  the  subject  in  his  Life  of  Bruno,  pp. 
edited  by  Ludwig  Geiger,  vol.  vii.  p.  151-134,  169. 


244 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


up,  and  lie  believed  that  nothing  can  befall  man 
which  wisdom  will  not  frustrate  or  patience  overcome. 
Never  relinquishing  the  hope  of  reconciling  philosophy 
with  religion,  that  Utopian  vision  was  always  before  him, 
but  never  to  be  realised.  In  his  earlier  Italian  works, 
as  in  his  Latin  writings,  and  especially  in  the  Sum- 
mary of  Terms,  composed  at  this  period,  he  returns 
again  and  again  to  insist  that  science  should  be  free. 
Despite  his  belief  in  the  unity  of  man’s  knowledge, 
he  insists  on  the  necessity  of  dividing  philosophy  from 
religion  in  their  effects,  though  they  have  but  one  cause, 
and  lead  but  to  one  end.  Philosophy,  rightfully  used 
and  followed,  will  reveal  a rational  theology  and  a natural 
system  of  morals.  Nature  and  man’s  heart  alike  be- 
hold the  divinity  and  the  universal  law  of  absolute 
justice.  Reason  discovers  the  laws  which  rule  the 

universe,  and  reason  makes  plain  that  ideal  of  justice1 
which  is  apparent  in  the  pages  of  history,  and  inseparable 
from  a right  understanding  of  the  labours  and  the  destiny 
of  man.  On  the  one  hand  philosophy  or  natural  science,  on 
the  other  positive  theology  or  supernatural  science,  are, 
it  might  seem,  opposed ; but  they  are  in  truth  bestowed 
upon  us  by  God  to  lead  us,  each  according  to  our  several 
peculiar  gifts,  towards  the  divine  perfection.  Their  ways 
are  devious,  their  modes  of  thought  differ.  The  philosopher 
obeys  reason  and  seeks  evidence  ; the  theologian,  who  is 
guided  by  faith,  inclines  his  head  before  revelation.  Since, 
moreover,  his  sole  aims  are  those  of  the  theologian,  to 
walk  in  the  ways  of  wisdom,  to  succour  (Gfr.  160)  his 
fellows,  and  to  demonstrate  that  universal  principle  from 
which  all  being  flows  and  to  which  it  returns,  the 
philosopher  and  theologian  should  be  united  in  the  closest 
bonds  of  fellowship.  To  the  philosopher,  as  to  the  theo- 
logian, the  same  liberty  should  be  granted.  Theology  is 
not  to  war  upon  philosophy,  nor  truth  with  truth,  nor 
is  light  to  be  confounded  with  light,  nor  goodness  with 
1 This  is  the  doctrine  of  Hegel’s  Philosophy  of  History. 


THE  PHILOSOPHER  AND  THE  THEOLOGIAN.  245 


goodness ; and  in  the  conception  of  a God  who  can  neither 
deceive  nor  be  deceived,  who  is  not  jealous,  but  in  whose 
sovereign  goodness  is  truth  itself  and  light  itself,  in  this 
supreme  conception  the  philosopher  and  the  theologian 
cannot  but  meet  and  be  at  peace. 

For  Bruno’s  view  of  the  relations  of  Nature  to  God 
we  may  cite  the  following  : — “ Above  all,  God  is  mind 
(Intelledus).  Mind  is  common  to  all  things  in  Nature.1 
Mind  pervading  each  thing  and  everything  is  Reason. 
God  dictates  and  commands  : Nature  effects  and  produces: 
Reason  beholds  and  searches.  God  is  the  first  Monad,  the 
foundation  and  source  of  all  number.  Simplicity  (unity  ?) 
is  the  substance  and  the  excelling  quality  of  all  greatness 
and  composition,  above  every  other  condition  and  quality 
innumerable  and  immense.  Nature  is  number  which  can 
be  numbered,  greatness  which  can  be  measured ; it  is 
apparent  to  the  senses  and  comprehensible.  Reason  is 
numbered  number,  measured  greatness ; it  is  the  power 
which  estimates.  God  by  means  of  Nature  passes  into  the 
reason.  Reason  is  brought  through  Nature  to  God.  God 
is  love  ; he  is  creative  ; he  is  light.  Nature  is  to  be  loved  ; 
it  is  the  creature  ; it  is  ardour  and  fire.  Reason  is  loving  ; 
in  a certain  measure  it  is  the  subject  inflamed  by  Nature 
and  enlightened  by  God”  (see  Gfr.  564,  496,  582). 

Thus  all  that  which  we  understand  by  heaven  and  all 
that  we  call  earth  submits  to  one  law.  In  the  whole  of 
the  universe,  of  which  our  globe  is  but  a particle,  there 
is  continuous  motion,  rotation,  revolution,  and  change. 
“ Which  sphere  or  celestial  vault  is  none  other  than  a 
delusion  of  the  eye,  and  those  stars  which  we  call  fixed 
are  no  other  than  so  many  suns,  around  which  planets 
describe  circles,  as  with  our  sun ; nor  is  it  any  wonder 
that  by  reason  of  their  great  distance  they  are  unseen  by  us. 
And  if  these  suns  are,  as  it  were,  the  centre  of  systems  of 

1 Tlie  same  thing  has  been  said  passage  was  quoted  hy  Bruno  (W. 
by  Virgil  : “ Mens  agitat  molem,  i.  242). 
magnoque  se  corpore  miscet.”  This 


246 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


planets  related  to  ours,  they  may  be  called  worlds,  and 
every  celestial  body  may  be  called  a world,  which,  like  our 
earth,  harbours  a multitude  of  living  creatures  ” ( De  Im- 
mense), vi.  2,  v.  7).  “ Of  these  worlds  there  is  not  one, 

nor  two,  but  an  infinity,  infinite  as  the  space  containing’ 
them.”  “ Nevertheless,  it  can  by  no  means  be  granted 
that  these  do  not  form  an  universe  because  they  do  not 
all  gravitate  towards  a single  centre  nor  are  enclosed  by 
one  periphery ; for  they  do  in  nowise  take  from  a more 
lofty  and  ideal  unity;  one  being  the  space  in  which  these 
heavenly  bodies  travel,  they  are  formed  of  one  substance, 
informed  by  one  spirit  ” ( De  /mm.  vii.  1 3 , v.  16;  De 
Mon.  c.  2,  v.  236).  “ God  (is)  the  First  Cause  in  so  far 

as  all  things  are  distinct  from  him,  as  the  effect  (is)  from 
the  efficient,  the  thing  made  from  the  maker”  (W.  i.  261). 
All  is  subject  to  endless  transformation  except  the  One 
which  transforms  and  changes  all  things,  the  central  force 
of  stars  and  suns,  of  bodies  and  of  souls  ; the  force  which 
bestows  upon  all  living  things  both  form  and  matter,  and 
which  therefore  we  call  the  Soul  of  souls  and  the  Being 
of  beings.  The  Soul  of  souls  is  the  Unity  which  cannot 
perish,  the  Identity  revealed  in  all  changes,  the  simplicity 
which  is  the  foundation  of  all  that  is  composite  and 
multiplied.  The  Being  of  beings  is  the  cause  and 
principle  of  law,  the  immutable  substance,  unseen  by  the 
eye  of  sense,  but  visible  to  the  eye  of  reason,  the  bond  of 
union  in  that  which  is  multiplied  and  changing,  the  last 
and  the  first  of  the  powers  of  Nature,  and  it  is  a result 
of  their  supreme  origin  that  all  forms  of  physical  and 
moral  being  apparent  in  the  universe,  no  matter  how 
different  in  constitution  and  in  destiny,  share  a common 
life,  and  form,  as  it  were,  the  members  of  one  vast  and 
harmonious  whole.  Firmly  grounded  in  this  faith,  and 
believing  it  to  be  inconceivable  that  any  thinker  or 
theologian  should  seek  offence  in  his  theories,  he  was  blind 
to  all  danger.  Wearied  with  the  arduous  struggle 
against  poverty,  chilled  to  the  heart  with  others’  mistrust 


ZURICH,  1591. 


247 


and  his  own  failure,  roving,  rejected,  the  favour  of  great 
men  given  him  only  to  be  withdrawn,  unsolaced  by  the 
company  of  disciples  or  the  ministering  of  a single  friend, 
he  took  the  fatal  decision  to  approach  his  native  land, 
lie  hoped,  no  doubt,  to  remain  unmolested  in  Venice, 
which  more  than  any  other  Italian  city  had  preserved  a 
certain  independence  of  the  Papacy.1  Moreover,  the  high 
place  and  noble  name  of  Mocenigo  offered  him  security 
and  protection.  At  Zurich,  accordingly,  he  awaited  a 
second  summons  from  the  young  patrician.  To  Raphael 
Eglin,2  a pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  and  a poetic 
philosopher,  Bruno  dictated  an  abridgment  of  his  Meta- 
physics, a portion  of  which  was  twice  printed  under  the 
title  Summa  Terminorum  Metapliysicorum , the  first  time 
in  1595  during  Bruno’s  imprisonment  in  Rome,  and 
again  after  his  death  in  1 609.  The  first  or  exoteric  part 
of  this  work  contains  a quantity  of  definitions  founded  on 
the  categories  of  Aristotle,  the  second  or  esoteric  portion 
being  occupied  with  the  doctrine  of  emanation  taught  by 
the  Neo-Platonists.  According  to  Brunnhofer,  this  work 
contains  entire  propositions  recalling  sometimes  word  for 
word  the  Ethics  of  Spinoza.  The  flowing  style,  accord- 
ing to  the  same  writer,  entirely  justifies  Eglin’s  admira- 
tion for  his  master’s  adroitness  in  logic. 

It  is  evident  that  Bruno  never  ceased  to  cherish  the 
hope,  not  only  that  it  might  be  granted  him  to  teach 


1 When  Venice  was  placed  under 
the  interdict,  the  Senate  signified  to 
the  grand  vicar  of  the  Bishop  of 
Padua  that  he  was  forbidden  to  pub- 
lish the  decree.  The  grand  vicar 
replied  that  he  would  act  as  God 
should  inspire  him  ; to  which  the 
Senate  responded  that  God  had 
already  inspired  the  Council  of  Ten 
to  hang  the  disobedient. 

2 In  the  same  year  Eglin  had 
received  the  freedom  of  the  town 
from  the  magistrates  of  Zurich  in 
return  for  his  services  to  the  state 
schools.  Some  years  later  both 


Hainzel  and  Eglin  were  concerned 
in  a charge  of  practising  alchemy 
and  of  falsifying  coin.  This  had  dis- 
astrous consequences  for  the  accused 
men.  Perhaps  their  credibility  on 
this  point  may  have  caused  Bruno 
to  withdraw  from  their  society,  for 
he  had  signified  his  contempt  for 
magical  investigations  at  the  outset 
of  his  literary  career  in  the  Candle- 
bearer  when  deriding  the  efforts  of 
Bonifacio  to  make  gold  by  means  of 
the  imposture  of  the  alchemist 
Cencio. 


248 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


the  truth  as  a philosopher,  but  that  he  might  succeed  in 
making  his  peace  with  the  Pope.  During  the  whole  of 
his  travels  he  had  approached  the  confessional  twice  only; 
and  he  postponed  his  desire  to  reconcile  himself  with  the 
Church  till  the  advent  of  a Pope  less  terrible  to  back- 
sliders than  Sixtus  Y.  When  the  stern  pontiff’  was  dead, 
Bruno  probably  hoped  for  tolerance  at  the  hands  of 
Gregory  XIV. — “ a soul  of  virgin  innocence,”  as  he  is 
called  by  Ranke.  A second  change  in  the  Papacy  em- 
boldened the  philosopher  yet  further,  and  gave  rise  to 
the  hope  that  by  dedicating  a work  to  Clement  VIII. 
the  Papal  favour  might  be  secured,  together  with  a safe 
return  to  the  Church. 

Accordingly  we  find  that  one  work  in  particular,  upon 
the  Seven  Liberal  Arts,  was  destined  by  Bruno  for  pre- 
sentation to  the  sovereign  pontiff.  “ This  I desired,”  he 
says  in  his  evidence  at  the  trial  (Doc.  ix.),  “ to  have 
printed  in  Frankfort,  intending  to  take  it,  and  some 
others  of  my  printed  works  which  I approve  (for  some  I 
do  not  approve),  and  to  place  myself  at  the  feet  of  his 
Holiness  1 (for  I have  heard  that  he  loves  men  of  learning), 
and  to  state  my  case  to  him,  and  to  endeavour  to  obtain 
absolution  for  my  sins  and  permission  to  wear  the  clerical 
habit  without  entering  religion  ; and  I have  spoken  with 
many  Neapolitan  fathers  of  the  Order,  and  in  particular 
with  Fra  Domenico  da  Nocera  and  with  Zuane  Mocenigo, 
who  also  promised  to  help  me  in  all  things  which  were 
right.”  Being  asked  to  explain  himself  further,  he  added, 
that  with  respect  to  not  approving  his  own  works,  he 
desired  to  say  that  they  were  those  in  which  he  had 
discoursed  as  a philosopher  and  not  in  all  respects  like  a 
Christian,  adding,  “ And  in  especial  I know  that  in  some 
of  these  works  I have  maintained  and  handled  certain 
matters  philosophically  which  ought  to  be  attributed  to 
the  power,  wisdom,  and  glory  of  God  according  to  the 
Christian  faith,  and  I have  founded  my  doctrine  upon 
1 Clement  VIII.  assumed  the  tiara  February  3,  1592. 


FRA  DOMENICO  DA  NOCERA. 


249 


sense  and  reason,  and  not  upon  faith ; and  this  is  for  the 
generality,  and  for  particulars  I refer  to  my  -writings,  for 
I do  not  now  recall  any  especial  doctrine.”  The  evidence 
of  Fra  Domenico  da  Nocera,  written  in  a cramped  hand 
on  a coarse  sheet  of  letter-paper,  follows  in  confirmation. 
“ I,  Fra  Domenico  da  Nocera,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers, 
and  regent  of  the  College  of  St.  Dominic  in  Naples, — I 
say  about  this  present,  that  to-day,  May  31,  1592,  the 
day  of  St.  John  and  St.  Paul,  meeting  with  the  very 
reverend  father  the  Inquisitor  of  Venice,  he  called  me, 
and  in  presence  of  the  very  reverend  Provincial  of  the 
Holy  Land  and  of  the  very  reverend  Provincial  of  Venice, 
commanded  me  to  put  upon  paper,  Had  I spoken  with 
Fra  Giordano  of  Nola  here  in  Venice,  and  what  he  had 
said  to  me  ? and  desiring  to  obey,  I make  reply  that  on 
one  day  of  this  month  of  May,  near  to  the  Feast  of  the 
Pentecost,  coming  out  of  the  sacristy  of  the  church  of  St. 
John  and  St.  Paul,  I saw  a secular  making  a reverence  to 
me,  whom  at  first  sight  I did  not  know,  but  when  he 
accosted  me,  saying,  ‘ Come  into  a safe  place,’  I became 
aware  that  he  was  one  who  was  one  of  our  brethren  in 
the  province  of  the  kingdom,  a man  of  letters,  whose 
name  was  Fra  Giordano  da  Nola,  and  so  we  retired  into 
a part  of  the  aforesaid  church,  where  he  told  me  the 
reason  of  his  departure  from  our  province,  and  that  he 
had  put  off  the  habit  because  it  was  taken  from  him  by  a 
father,  Fra  Domenico  Vita,  then  Provincial  by  what  was 
said,  telling  me  also  of  many  kingdoms  in  which  he  had 
travelled,  and  royal  courts,  with  his  important  exercises 
in  lecturing,  but  that  he  had  always  lived  as  a Catholic. 
And  when  I asked  him  what  he  did  in  Venice,  and  how 
he  lived,  he  said  that  he  arrived  in  Venice  but  a few 
days  back  and  that  he  had  enough  of  his  own  to  live 
comfortably,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  be  quiet,  and  to 
set  to  work  to  compose  a book  which  he  had  in  his  mind, 
and  then,  by  important  assistance  and  accompanied  by 
favour,  he  would  present  it  to  his  Holiness  and  obtain  his 


2 :o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


pardon  for  that  which  he  had  related,  to  give  rest  to  his 
conscience,  and  finally  to  see  if  he  could  stay  in  Rome 
and-  there  devote  himself  to  the  literary  calling,  and  to 
show  his  worth,  and  perhaps  to  deliver  some  lectures.” 

It  was  this  hearty  desire  for  reconciliation  with  the 
Papacy,  and  this  premature  confidence  iu  the  concord 
between  philosophy  and  religion,  added  to  his  warm 
desire  to  see  his  native  land  once  more,  which  led  Bruno 
to  take  the  disastrous  step  of  revisiting  Italy.  His  pro- 
ject filled  those  who  knew  him  with  dismay.  Rumour 
brought  the  news,  which  they  could  scarcely  credit,  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Bologna.  A native  of  Brandenburg  and 
student  of  Helmstedt,  Yalens  Acidalius,  being  at  Bologna, 
where  he  was  staying  in  the  house  of  one  Persio,  wrote  on 
the  1 2th  February  I 592  to  the  Bavarian  Michael  For- 
gacz,  baron  of  Gimes,  then  living  at  Prague,  the  following 
letter : — “ I would  ask  of  thee  one  thing.  It  is  said  that 
the  Nolan,  Giordano  Bruno,  thy  friend  at  Wittenberg,  is 
at  present  at  Padua  living  and  teaching.  Is  it  truly  so  ? 
What  man  is  this  who  dares  to  return  to  Italy,  whence 
he  once  fled  ? I am  in  amazement,  and  can  give  no 
credit  to  the  story,  though  I hear  it  from  persons  worthy 
of  confidence.  Instruct  me,  as  I desire  to  be  assured,  or 
to  be  undeceived  in  this  matter.” 1 

The  glory  of  Venice  was  past  its  prime,  but  the  Re- 
public was  still  sufficiently  splendid,  at  the  close  of  a 
century  of  splendour,  to  justify  the  wonder  and  admira- 
tion which  it  everywhere  encountered.  The  empire  of  its 
nobles  was  extended  even  to  the  realm  of  thought,  which, 
by  a humorous  freak  of  despotism,  “ was  decreed  should  be 
free.”  The  government,  which  displayed  a supreme  con- 
tempt for  individual  rights,  manifested  for  independent 
speculation  a respect  hitherto  unknown — a respect  inspired 
by  the  incomparable  education  of  the  governing  body. 

1 Before  the  discovery  of  the  docu-  that  Bruno  had  lived  and  taught  in 
ments  of  Bruno’s  trial  at  Venice  Padua, 
this  letter  was  the  only  evidence 


THE  SCHOOLS  OF  PADUA. 


251 


Other  states  were  ruled  by  soldiers  or  the  sons  of  soldiers, 
the  might  of  whose  fathers  had  made  them  princes  ; but 
the  nobles  of  Venice  were  men  who  owed  nothing  to  their 
birth  but  certain  hereditary  offices,  and  on  whom  undue 
or  uninvited  prominence  would  have  been  visited  with  all 
the  jealousy  once  shown  by  Athens. 

In  Venice,  as  at  Athens,  each  man  suspected  and 
dreaded  a despot  in  his  neighbour  ; and  men  of  eminence 
were  compelled  to  turn  their  attention  to  learning,  for 
that  “ is  exempted  from  the  wrong  of  time,”  as  from  the 
wrongs  of  men.  For  more  than  a hundred  years  the 
liberal  schools  at  Padua  had  moulded  the  minds  of  the 
patricians  of  Venice.  There  was  hardly  one  noble 
Venetian  who  had  not  taught  or  learnt  in  the  school 
founded  by  the  Republic  at  Venice  in  1470.  The  Senate 
discussed  the  choice  of  the  professors ; their  rewards  and 
dignities  were  matter  of  state  control ; and  a special 
officer  of  the  highest  standing  was  appointed  to  direct 
public  instruction.  But  the  professors  were  granted  full 
freedom  with  regard  to  their  own  interpretation  of  the 
subjects  intrusted  to  them  by  the  Senate.  Thus,  though 
philosophy  was  supported  by  the  state,  it  was  free  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word  ; and  such  was  the  pride  of  the 
Venetians  in  their  academy,  that  in  1571  the  Senate 
decreed  that  they  would  recognise  no  degrees  except  those 
granted  by  their  own  university.  Yet  the  schools  of 
Padua,  so  dear  to  Venice  and  so  richly  endowed  by  that 
city,  were  the  centre  of  a sterile  philosophy  ; and  the 
pantheistic  doctrine  of  Averroes,1  then  ruling,  was  entirely 
opposed  to  the  comfort  and  safety  of  an  idealistic  philoso- 
pher such  as  Bruno.  This  doctrine  was  descended,  as  it 
seemed,  from  the  old  Greek  ethics  ; for  although  it  is  true 
that  Plato  was  the  first  to  use  the  term  Divine  Providence, 
yet,  knowing  no  truly  moral  distinctions,  the  Greeks  called 
a right  action  beautiful  (/caAa)  and  a wrong  action  ugly 

1 Etude  Historique  sur  la  Philo-  ( Cesare  Cremonini ),  par  L.  Mabil- 
sophie  de  la  Renaissance  en  Italie  leau,  Paris,  Hachette,  1881. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


(atcr^pn).  In  Averroism,  which  may  be  called  philoso- 
phical Islamism,  individual  immortality  was  lost  in  an 
active  intellect,  supposed  to  brood  over  the  face  of  Nature, 
opening  and  closing  like  an  automaton  in  order  to  receive 
again,  or  to  send  forth,  those  individual  particles  of  one 
universal  reason  which  wear  out  their  short  day  among 
men. 

The  Averroistic  doctrine 1 ruled  in  Padua  till  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  although  it  was  in  truth  the 
enemy  of  religious  faith.  “ Nearly  the  whole  of  the 
world  is  occupied,”  Picinus  says  with  some  rhetorical 
exaggeration  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  Plotinus, 
“ by  the  Peripatetics,  who  are  divided  into  two  sects,  the 
Alexandrists  and  the  Averroists.  The  former  believe  the 
human  intellect  to  be  mortal ; the  latter  contend  that  it 
is  one  in  all  men.  Both  parties  alike  are  the  enemies  of 
the  very  foundation  of  true  religion,  chiefly  because  they 
seem  to  deny  that  human  affairs  are  controlled  by  a 
Divine  Providence.” 

At  the  time  of  Bruno’s  appearance,  the  philosophic 
spirit  of  Padua  had  finished  the  cycle  in  which  all  purely 
materialistic  studies  are  condemned  to  move.  Starting 
from  the  contemplation  of  Nature,  Paduan  philosophy 
exhausted  logic  and  metaphysics,  and  proceeded  to  search 
for  the  absolute  under  its  twin  forms,  idea  and  being ; 
after  which,  returning  upon  itself,  it  sought  to  investigate 
the  nearest  reality  to  which  it  could  attain,  the  human 
soul.  Each  of  these  phases  occupied  a century,  and  at 
length  that  unfruitful  region  was  attained  in  which 
nothing  remains  to  be  done  except  to  reduce  to  synthetic 
expression  the  labours  of  the  past. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  Bruno,  fresh  from  his 
struggles  in  Germany,  and  full  of  heart  at  finding  him- 
self once  more  among  his  countrymen  and  speaking  his 

1 The  Dccamcrone  of  Boccaccio  rings,  the  conception  underlying 
contains  (I.  Nov.  3)  the  story  (re-  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  philoso- 
vived  and  dramatised  by  Lessing  in  phy  of  Averroes. 
his  Nathan  der  Weise)  of  the  three 


PADUA. 


253 


own  language,  arrived  at  Padua.  Neither  eagles  nor 
eagles’  young,  we  are  told,  are  fed  with  flies,  and  Bruno 
was  not  disposed  to  content  himself  with  petty  means  or 
ends  when  once  more  inspirited  by  his  native  air.  A 
natural  philosopher,  the  sterile  and  abstract  character  of 
the  method  in  vogue  at  Padua  must  have  revolted  him, 
while  making  him  familiar  with  the  bitter  disappointment 
which  too  often  rides  pillion  with  success.  In  Padua  the 
dream  of  many  a day  of  exile  was  realised ; the  arduous 
struggle  against  penury  in  a foreign  land  was  over ; the 
wanderer  once  more  heard  the  familiar  accents  of  his 
childhood,  and  scented  that  peculiar  vigorous  savour 
which  rises  only  from  the  soil  of  Italy.  But,  as  one  of 
the  Ishmaelites  of  this  world,  his  hand  was  against  every 
man’s ; and  to  hope  better  times  were  in  store  for  him 
was  to  ignore  his  nature,  for  he  carried  within  himself 
the  elements  of  his  own  destruction ; and  duller  men, 
discerning  his  fiery  spirit,  sought  to  quench  it  lest  it 
should  cause  a general  conflagration. 

Bruno  quitted  Zurich  in  the  early  summer,  if  we  may 
judge  from  a manuscript  dated  Sunday,1  the  1st  of  July 
1591,  according  to  the  Gregorian  calendar,  while  in 
Zurich  tho  Julian  calendar  was  still  in  force.  In  Sep- 
tember or  October  he  appeared  in  Yenice,  where  he  took 
a lodging  and  prepared  himself  to  instruct  Mocenigo 
(Doc.  ii.,  v.),  though  for  the  greater  part  he  lived  at 
Padua,  where,  taking  advantage  of  the  university,  he 
gave  private  lectures  to  the  German  students,  with 
whom  the  Nolan  had  much  in  common  (Doc.  vi.)  His 
stay  at  Padua,  moreover,  was  broken  by  the  journey  to 
Frankfort  already  mentioned  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
his  works  through  the  press.  At  specified  times  he  re- 
turned to  Yenice  to  superintend  the  studies  of  Mocenigo, 

1 Professor  Sigwart,  in  his  mas-  This  was  a mistake  of  one  day  ; for 
terly  sketch  of  the  life  of  Bruno,  in  1591  the  1st  of  July  fell  on  Mon- 
points out  that  by  a pen  error  the  day.  The  work  was  begun  in  Zurich 
philosopher  dated  his  MSS.  Sunday,  and  finished  in  Padua  on  the  22d 
July  1st,  Liber  Triginta  Statuarum.  of  October  (Noroff  Catalogue). 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


25  + 

and  at  Padua,  in  the  autumn,  we  find  him  engaged  with 
a pupil,  Hieronymus  Besler  from  Nuremberg,  who  became 
his  secretary,  and  with  whom  he  made  a copy  of  a manu- 
script called  De  Sigillis  Hcrmitis  Ptolomci  et  Aliorum, 
which  from  its  title  was  perhaps  a work  on  the  occult 
sciences,  intended  by  Bruno  to  entertain  his  superstitious 
Yenetian  patron.  Orientals  say  that  the  vast  Asiatic 
ruins  were  the  work  of  enchanters,  and  only  the  un- 
learned believe  that  works  beyond  their  compass  are 
due  to  magic.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  at- 
traction of  Mocenigo  for  his  philosophic  studies  was  not 
founded  upon  metaphysics,  which,  we  are  told  by  Bruno, 
in  the  Expulsion , “ considers  the  universal  principles 
of  all  things  falling  under  human  cognisance,  . . . those 
species  of  ideas  and  sorts  of  ends  and  efficients  above 
natural  effects,  as  well  according  to  the  reality  that  is 
in  things  as  according  to  the  representing  conception.” 
Nor  is  it  likely  that  “ the  bright  shining  of  the  world, 
that  luminous  and  excellent  star  ” (W.  ii.  99 ),*  caused  any 
wonder  in  Mocenigo.  No  “ fruitful  progress  of  contem- 
plation ” (W.  ii.  393)  was  likely  to  awaken  in  his  sordid 
mind  interest  in  the  sources  of  the  soul  or  in  the  life  of 
the  “ vast  universe  which  is  subject  to  our  sight  and  to 
our  common  reason”  (W.  ii.  393). 

The  scheme  of  creation,  when  expressed  in  Lullian 
figures,  was,  in  Bruno’s  mind,  like  the  Urirn  and  Tlium- 
mim  in  whose  symbols  were  the  judgment  of  God  ; but 
this  lofty  conception  was  no  more  to  Mocenigo  than  if  it 
had  been  the  pane  of  an  inn-window  scrawled  with  a 
hundred  trivial  signatures. 

The  Yenetian,  whose  mind  turned  solely  upon  his  own 
profit,  and  upon  Mnemonics,  which  he  thought  a royal 

1 “ It  should  seem  that  the  and  splendour  of  flame:  so  that 
celestial  bodies,  most  of  them,  are  flame  above  is  durable  and  con- 
true  fires  or  flames,  as  the  Stoics  sistent,  and  in  its  natural  place  ; 
held,  more  fire  perhaps  and  rarified  but  with  us  it  is  a stranger  and 
than  our  flame  is.  Tor  they  are  all  momentary  and  impure ; like  Vulcan, 
globular  and  determinate,  they  have  that  halted  with  his  fall.” — Bacon, 
rotation,  and  they  have  the  colour  lx.  vol.  2. 


GIOVANNI  MOCENIGO. 


255 


road  to  success,  was  not  able  to  perceive  the  true  nature 
of  the  philosopher.  Casaubon,  we  are  told  by  his  bio- 
grapher Mark Pattison, suffered  “from  the  disease  of  double- 
mindedness,  and  when  he  was  reading  the  classics,  wished 
he  was  reading  the  Fathers  ; ” and  Mocenigo  was  probably 
in  the  same  plight,  wishing  to  command  Venice  while  he 
was  learning,  and  to  learn  while  he  exhausted  himself  in 
fruitless  struggles  to  rival  the  Doges  who  were  members 
of  his  family.  It  was  not,  we  learn  from  books  of  her- 
aldry, till  somewhat  late  that  fathers  and  sons  bore  the 
same  arms  ; the  sons,  when  their  faces  were  concealed  for 
battle,  preferring  to  be  known  apart  from  their  fathers  by 
another  crest  ; 1 and  some  such  plan  might  be  adopted 
once  more ; for  as  a writer’s  early  triumphs  are  said  to 
be  his  most  formidable  rivals,  so  the  successful  members 
of  a family  are  not  precisely  those  with  whom  the  younger 
branches  would  choose  to  measure  their  strength.  Un- 
fortunately, Mocenigo,  who,  had  he  been  without  a great 
name,  might  have  lived  reputably  upon  his  small  ability, 
found  himself  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  magic,  and 
failing  that,  to  still  meaner  arts  and  subterfuges.  When 
the  Tartars,  we  are  told,  see  a strong  or  brave  man,  they 
seek  to  kill  him,  in  the  belief  that  they  will  inherit  his 
useful  qualities,  but  Mocenigo  had  not  the  plea  of  these 
savages  in  causing  the  death  of  his  master. 

It  was  a strange  coincidence  that  Padua  and  Venice, 
which  Bruno  had  quitted  soon  after  the  Roman  trial  of 
1576,  should  have  been  the  first  Italian  cities  to  receive 
the  exile,  and  the  last  in  which  he  was  master  of  his 
liberty.  Padua  appeared  to  offer  a safe  resting-place 


1 Sir  Philip  Sidney  at  every 
tournament  displaj'ed  a new  device. 
At  a tilt  the  day  after  the  birth 
of  a son  to  Lord  Leicester,  Sidney 
assumed  the  motto  Speravi,  the 
word  crossed  with  a black  line  to 
show  his  hope  was  dashed.  Bruno 
on  one  occasion  took  for  his  motto 
the  words,  “ Sad  in  joy,  joyful  in 


sorrow ,”  and  solaced  himself  with 
the  title  “ Academician  of  no 
Academy,”  reflecting  meanwhile 
upon  the  full  academicians  who  are 
“fathers  in  ignorance.”  At  another 
time  he  was  the  “ citizen  and 
servant  of  the  world,  son  of  the 
earth  his  mother,  and  of  the  sun  his 
father.” 


256 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


not  only  as  harbouring  a great  school,  then  the  first  in 
Italy,  but  also  because  it  was  a city  dependent  upon 
Venice,  that  state  of  which  Lord  Bacon  writes  as  “ the 
wisest  of  Europe,  whose  prosperity  hath  made  them  secure, 
and  underweighers  of  peril.”  Venice  perhaps  was  not  so 
much  in  need  of  a university  as  the  university  needed 
the  protection  of  Venice.  “ It  was  not,”  said  Junius, 
“ Virginia  that  wanted  a governor,  but  a court  favourite 
that  wanted  a salary  ; ” and  without  the  help  of  its  astute 
and  powerful  protector,  Padua  might  have  found  itself  in 
bad  case,  lying  exposed  on  four  sides  to  neighbours,  whose 
only  feeling  of  brotherhood  lay  in  an  unmixed  desire  for 
community  of  goods.1 

But,  despite  what  has  been  called  by  Addison  “ very 
fine  moralities,”  the  attraction  of  Italy  remains  unequalled, 


1 “ In  which  city,”  says  Roger 
Ascham,  “ I saw  more  wickedness  in 
a week  than  in  all  my  life  in  Eng- 
land.” Three  years  before  Bruno’s 
first  stay  in  Padua,  Sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney passed  though  the  city  on  his 
way  to  Venice.  And  desiring,  as  he 
tells  us,  to  eschew  “ strange  and 
in'khorn  terms,”  he  confesses  that 
“next  to  the  Greek  and  Latin,  he 
likes  and  loves  the  Italian  tongue 
above  all  other.”  Yet  he  writes  of 
Italianised  Englishmen  as  “ready 
backbiters,  sore  nippers,  and  spiteful 
reporters  privily  of  good  men.”  And 
of  Italy  he  says,  “ Virtue  once  made 
the  country  mistress  over  all  the 
world;  vice  nowmaketh  that  country 
slave  to  them  that  before  were  glad 
to  serve  it.”  A kindred  feeling  seems 
to  have  possessed  other  Elizabethan 
moralists.  “ Suffer  not  thy  sons,” 
writes  the  great  Lord  Burleigh  to 
his  second  son  Robert,  “ to  pass  the 
Alps,  for  they  shall  learn  nothing 
there  but  pride,  blasphemy,  and 
atheism.”  Hubert  Languet,  too, 
writes  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  “It  is 
difficult  for  a man  clothed  in  white 
apparel  to  remain  in  an  apartment 
filled  with  smoke  and  dust  without 
soiling  his  garment ; nor  can  the 
complexion  which  lias  been  long  ex- 


posed to  the  sun  retain  its  native 
hue.  Equally  difficult  it  will  be  for 
you  to  preserve  your  mind  pure  and 
spotless  if  you  converse  with  the 
Italians,  the  inhabitants  of  Venice 
and  Padua  alone  excepted  ; ” add- 
ing, “ If  you  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  those  robbers  who  live  in 
Rome,  you  must  either  renounce  the 
religion  which  you  profess  or  expose 
your  life  to  extreme  danger.  In 
Rome  . . . you  run  the  hazard  of 
losing  your  religion,  your  conscience, 
and  your  reputation.”  Accordingly, 
Sidney  spent  several  months  at 
Venice  and  in  Padua,  writing  to  his 
brother  without  any  remarkable  in- 
crease of  respect  for  the  Italians,  as 
follows  : — “ For  Italy,  wee  know  not 
what  we  have  or  can  have  to  doe 
with  them,  but  to  buy  their  silkes 
and  wines ; and  as  for  the  other 
point,  except  Venice,  whose  good 
laws  and  customes  wee  can  hardly 
proportion  to  ourselves,  because  they 
are  quite  of  a contrary  government, 
there  is  little  there  but  tyrannous 
oppression  and  servil  yielding  to 
them  that  have  little  or  no  right 
over  them.  And  for  the  men  you 
shall  have  there,  although  indeed 
some  be  excellently  learned,  yet  are 
they  all  given  to  counterfeit  learn- 


VENICE. 


257 


and  of  all  Italian  cities  Venice  bears  away  the  palm. 
Swift,  who  “ could  write  finely  upon  a broomstick,”  might 
sue  for  such  a subject,  for  in  Venice  there  is  every  ele- 
ment of  fine  writing.  When  the  sun  raises  his  great 
globe  of  vivid  red,  the  air  and  those  antique  pieces  of 
water  shine  like  fire ; in  the  deep  moonlight,  pillars  and 
statues  seem  to  be  turned  to  carvings  in  silver  and 
ebony  ; while  sunset  strews  the  water-way  with  myriads 
of  sparks  and  paints  upon  it  a lustrous  image  of  the  sky, 
which  stretches  away,  a bright  celestial  expanse,  into  the 
distance,  where  the  trembling  surface  of  the  sea  shines 
with  liquid  hues  of  amethyst  and  opal,  such  as  pave  the 
New  Jerusalem.  The  firmament  above  is  scarcely  divided 
from  the  firmament  below,  which  repeats  again  and  again, 
like  an  echo,  tones  of  heavenly  blue,  carnation,  and  opal. 
Reflection  on  reflection,  sun  to  sun  and  moon  to  moon, 
fill  the  water  and  multiply  the  beauty  of  the  scene ; each 
thing  seeks  its  mysterious  double;  every  bridge  reflected 
in  the  shining  streams  becomes  a ring  of  pierced  ivory  or 
coloured  marble,  and  a transparent  image  lies  at  the  foot 
of  every  palace.  Fact  and  fancy  go  hand  in  hand  through 
that  tissue  of  light,  the  sparkling  haze  which  is  cast  over 
the  city  like  an  enchanter’s  spell.  Lingering  in  the  narrow 
causeways  of  the  anchored  city,  the  gorgeous  and  fantastic 
forms  chronicled  in  the  splendid  annals  of  Venice  are  not 
more  real  than  the  immortal  figures  sung  by  poets  or 
painted  by  the  great  masters.  On  those  broad  lagoons  rode 
the  ships  of  Bassanio  side  by  side  with  the  golden  Bucen- 
taur.  The  Rialto  and  the  Bridge  of  Sighs  are  peopled 
with  dead  princes  and  ambassadors,  as  with  the  luminous 
forms  immortalised  by  the  colours  of  Giorgione  and  Tin- 
toret,  and  by  the  gentle  art  of  Shakespeare.  Here  they 

ing,  as  a man  shall  learne  among  paynting,  and  such  are  better  there 
them  more  false  grounds  of  things  than  in  other  epuntries  ; hut  for 
than  in  any  place  I knowe  ; for  other  matters,  as  well,  if  not  better, 
from  a tapster  upwards  they  are  all  you  shall  have  them  in  nearer 
discoursers  in  certain  matters  and  places.” 
qualities,  as  horsemanship,  weapons, 

E 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


258 

are  domiciled  for  ever,  with  the  iridescent  flight  of 
pigeons,  the  lustre  of  bronze  wrought  into  a fabric  as 
delicate  as  dreamwork,  the  pearly  hue  which  marble 
takes  from  age,  and  those  varied  graces  which  are  the 
matchless  legacy  of  the  Renaissance.  Here  and  in  Hol- 
land is  the  especial  kingdom  of  the  painter,  who  by 
his  vivid  filial  likeness  proves  that  genius  gave  him 
birth  ; and  in  just  measure  as  he  is  true  to  Nature, 
so  Nature  is  true  to  him,  aud  by  right  of  that  exquisite 
spirit  which  he  has  captured  and  fixed  upon  his  canvas, 
by  the  flower-like  hues  of  Venice,  by  the  silver  radiance 
of  Holland,  Nature  becomes  his  inalienable  patrimony 
for  ever. 

Bruno  had  now  entered  upon  the  last  year  of  his 
public  life  in  Venice,  where  the  links  between  the 
governing  and  the  governed,  so  often  relaxed  and  so  often 
unduly  strained  in  other  parts  of  Italy,  still  held  good  in 
the  bonds  of  mutual  confidence.  For  him  Venice  was 
still  “ the  eldest  child  of  Liberty,”  in  spite  of  the  threat- 
ening aspect  of  the  Inquisition.  When  the  Fi’ench 
ambassador  congratulated  Cervantes  on  the  great  reputa- 
tion of  Don  Quixote , “ Had  it  not  been  for  the  Inquisi- 
tion,” said  Cervantes,  “ I should  have  made  my  book 
much  more  entertaining ; ” and  the  influence  of  the  In- 
quisition penetrated  every  country  and  every  rank  of 
society.  Before  he  was  captured  by  the  Holy  Office 
some  tranquil  months  fell  to  Bruno’s  lot,  for  we  find  that 
he  left  his  lodging  and  went  to  live  upon  the  Grand 
Canal,  in  the  quarter  of  San  Samuele,  where  the  house  of 
Mocenigo  stood.  It  is  astonishing  that,  being  without 
means,  without  adherents,  suspected  in  many  quarters, 
hunted  from  town  to  town  by  the  ban  of  excommunica- 
tion, Bruno  should  have  found  courage  and  fresh  hope  to 
teach,  to  reprove,  and  to  exhort  anew.  His  reputation  as 
a philosopher  and  a man  of  lively  conversation  and  great 
attainments  had  preceded  him.  He  was  made  free  of  the 
literary  circles,  which  met  and  disputed  in  the  book- 


VENICE , MARCH  1392. 


259 


sellers’  shops,  and  in  the  house  of  the  noble  Venetian, 
Andrea  Morosini,  standing  in  the  division  of  San  Luca, 
upon  the  Grand  Canal.  “ Here,”  says  Morosini  in  his 
evidence,  “ certain  gentlemen  are  used  to  resort,  and  also 
prelates,  to  entertain  themselves  with  discoursing,  and 
upon  philosophy  chiefly.” 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Mocenigo  began  to 
grow  discontented  with  his  master.  No  one  will  become 
a painter  by  looking  at  models,  nor  is  a thinker  made  by 
patterns  for  thought ; and  Mocenigo,  let  him  turn  the 
concentric  circles  of  Lully  as  he  might,  was  not  likely 
to  become  either  inventive  or  retentive,  although,  like 
Gianozzo  Manetti,  who  kept  a Jew  in  his  house  in  order 
to  learn  Hebrew,  the  Venetian  kept  a philosopher  in  his 
house  in  order  to  learn  philosophy  ; not  comprehending 
Bruno’s  doctrine  upon  that  “ remembrance  of  the  soul’s 
high  inheritance  which  is  penitence  ” (W.  i.  1 8 8)  ; nor, 
again,  on  that  “ love  of  the  good  and  beautiful  which  is 
not  forgetfulness  but  memory,  . . . since  we  cannot  desire 
that  which  we  do  not  know”  (W.  ii.  330).  He  was  able 
to  grasp  the  conception  of  sorcery ; for  in  sorcery  we 
have  not  the  idea  of  a God,  of  a moral  faith ; it  exhibits 
man  as  the  highest  power,  regarding  him  as  alone  occu- 
pying a position  of  command  over  the  power  of  Nature. 
But  true  religion  is  like  the  bright  glimmering  of  the 
dawn.  It  issues  from  man’s  consciousness  of  a higher 
Power,  in  relation  to  which  he  owns  his  weakness  and 
humility. 

The  fate  of  Bruno  was  sealed.  With  his  eyes  open 
he  placed  his  head  in  the  noose  prepared  by  the  In- 
quisition, entering  the  house  of  Mocenigo  in  March 
1592.  Between  the  pupil  and  the  master  there  must 
have  been  no  more  than  the  sympathy  which  Lord 
Bacon  pretends  to  exist  between  the  weapon  and  the 
wound.  The  storm  was  gathering.  The  discontent  of 
Mocenigo  increased  daily.  The  little  he  learnt  from 
Bruno,  who  no  doubt  soon  discovered  his  incapacity, 


26o 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


was  no  compensation  for  the  expense  and  trouble  of 
lodging  an  unmannerly  stranger.  The  two  men  had 
not  a point  in  common  ; and  at  last,  as  no  magical 
effects  were  forthcoming,  Mocenigo  became  persuaded 
that  Bruno  had  kept  back  his  chief  secrets ; and  soon 
after  they  first  met,  the  bookseller  Ciotto  deposes  that 
at  Easter  1592  he  was  commissioned  by  Mocenigo  to 
inquire,  when  visiting  the  fair  in  Frankfort,  whether 
Bruno  was  a man  who  could  be  trusted,  and  whether 
his  pretensions  were  worthy  of  credit.  “ I have,”  said 
Mocenigo  to  Ciotto,  “ this  man  here  at  my  expense ; he 
has  promised  to  teach  me  many  things  ; he  has  had  clothes 
and  money  in  quantities  from  me  on  this  account.  I 
cannot  bring  him  to  any  conclusion,  and  I suspect  he  is 
not  a good  man ; and  since  you  are  going  to  Frankfort, 
you  will  do  me  a favour  by  taking  some  trouble  to  dis- 
cover if  he  is  trustworthy,  and  if  he  will  keep  his  word.” 
“ So,”  Ciotto  adds,  “ when  I was  at  Frankfort  I spoke 
with  different  scholars,  and  I found  that  he  had  made  pro- 
fession of  memory,  and  of  other  such  secrets,  but  that 
nothing  came  of  it,  and  all  those  who  had  dealings  with 
him  were  dissatisfied.”  To  which  Mocenigo  answered, 
“ I doubt  him  also  ; but  I desire  to  make  him  repay  me 
something  of  the  money  which  I have  squandered  upon 
him,  and  I will  then  deliver  him  up  to  the  Holy  Inquisi- 
tion ” (May  26,  I 592).  Accordingly  Mocenigo  appealed, 
according  to  his  own  story,  to  his  confessor,  though  to  do 
so  was,  as  the  French  say,  ertfonccrune  porte  cmverte.  The 
confessor  desired  his  willing  penitent  to  deliver  Bruno  up 
to  the  Inquisition.  It  is  scarcely  likely  that  the  confessor 
was  consulted  when  Mocenigo  hoped  to  learn  by  the 
black  art  the  secrets  of  alchemy  and  the  elixir  of  life, 
or  that  the  same  pious  authority  was  asked  when  the 
unhappy  exile  was  tempted  to  return  to  his  native  land  by 
Mocenigo.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  determined  to  betray 
his  master,  he  naturally  sought  to  throw  the  burden  of  the 
deed  upon  religion,  which  was  forced  to  set  its  seal  upon 


VENICE,  MAY  1592. 


261 


the  act  of  betrayal  and  murder.  As  a result,  Mocenigo 
threatened  to  lay  before  the  Council  of  the  Inquisition  an 
account  of  Bruno’s  “ wicked  words,  both  against  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  against  the  Church  ; ” to  which  Bruno 
answered,  “ that  he  had  no  fear  of  the  Inquisition,  for  his 
manner  of  life  offended  no  man ; that  he  did  not  remem- 
ber having  said  any  wicked  thing  whatever,  and  that  even 
if  he  had  said  it,  he  had  said  it  to  me  alone,  and  that  he 
could,  therefore,  have  no  fear  I would  injure  him;  and 
that  even  if  he  were  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, at  the  most  they  might  force  him  to  resume  the 
habit  which  he  had  abandoned.”  “ So  you  have  been  a 
monk ! ” said  Mocenigo ; and  he  answered,  “ I have 
taken  the  first  vows  only,  and  in  any  case,  therefore,  I 
shall  be  able  to  adjust  my  affairs.”  Mocenigo  replied, 
“ How  can  you  adjust  your  affairs  if  you  have  no 
faith  ; first  adjust  your  opinions,  and  then  you  may 
hope  to  adjust  your  affairs ; and  for  that,  if  you  are 
willing,  you  shall  have  all  the  help  I can  give  you. 
Though  you  have  shown  yourself  so  wanting  in  faith 
to  me,  and  ungrateful  for  all  the  courtesies  I have 
used  towards  you,  yet  in  all  things  I wish  to  be  your 
friend.” 

To  this  offer  Bruno  made  no  reply,  “ except  to  entreat,” 
says  Mocenigo,  “ to  be  set  at  liberty,  and  to  say  that 
though  his  packages  were  in  order  and  he  ready  to  depart, 
it  was  not  that  he  desired  to  leave  me,  but  to  bridle  my 
impatience  for  learning ; and  if  I set  him  at  liberty  he 
would  teach  me  all  he  knew,  and  that  to  me  alone  he 
would  discover  all  the  secrets  of  all  the  works  written 
by  him.” 

Mocenigo’s  puerile  complaints  roused  Bruno’s  anger, 
and  he  told  his  discontented  pupil  roundly  that  he  had 
taught  him  enough,  and  more  than  was  incumbent  on 
him,  and  as  much  as  was  equivalent  to  the  gifts  and 
the  lodging  and  the  favours  cast  in  his  teeth  ; and  that 
he  was  determined  to  say  farewell,  and  to  return  to 


262 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Frankfort  to  print  the  remainder  of  his  works,  and  in 
particular  that  work  on  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts  which 
was  to  reconcile  him  with  the  Pope  ; averring,  moreover, 
that  Mocenigo  had  wounded  him  to  the  quick  by  seizing 
his  writings,  his  books,  and  his  clothes ; and  “ this  he 
did  because  he  not  only  desired  me  to  teach  him  all  that 
I knew,  but  he  would  not  permit  me  to  teach  any  other 
person,  and  he  did  not  cease  to  threaten  me  in  my  life 
and  in  my  honour  if  I did  not  teach  him  all  that  I 
knew  ” (Doc.  xiv.) 

Thereupon,  as  has  been  said,  Mocenigo  took  the  formal 
step  of  denouncing  Bruno  to  the  Father  Inquisitor  in 
Venice.  The  denunciations,  three  in  number,  are  in  the 
form  of  letters  (1,  2,  3,  'Documenti  Intorno  a Giordano 
Bruno , Roma,  Salviucci,  1880),  and  they  are  dated  sever- 
ally May  23d,  25th,  and  29th,  1592.1  In  these  docu- 
ments Bruno  is  accused  of  uttering  blasphemies  against 


1 Document  I. 

Giovanni  Mocenigo  denounces  Gior- 
dano Bruno  to  the  Father  Inqui- 
sitor of  Venice. 

23 d May  1592. 

Very  Keverend  Father  and  most 
Honoured  Sir,  — I,  Zuane  Moce- 
nigo, son  of  the  most  noble  Messer 
Marcantonio,  constrained  by  my 
conscience  and  by  order  of  my 
confessor,  denounce  to  your  most 
reverend  Paternity  Giordano  Bruno, 
having  heard  him  say  several  times 
when  discoursing  with  me  in  my 
house,  that  to  say  bread  is  made 
flesh  is  a great  reproach  to  the 
Catholics  ; that  he  is  the  enemy  of 
the  mass ; that  no  religion  pleases 
him  ; that  Christ  was  a wicked  man 
(un  tristo);  that  since  he  worked  evil 
to  lead  away  the  people,  he  might 
very  well  foretell  he  would  be  hanged; 
that  in  God  there  is  no  distinction 
of  persons,  which  in  God  would  be 
imperfection  ; that  the  world  is 
eternal,  and  that  there  are  infinite 


worlds,  and  that  God  makes  them 
infinite  without  ceasing,  because,  he 
says,  he  wills  as  much  as  he  can  ; * 
that  Christ  worked  miracles  in  ap- 
pearance, and  that  he  was  a magi- 
cian and  the  Apostles  also,  and  that 
he  (Bruno)  could  do  as  much  and 
more  ; that  Christ  was  unwilling  to 
die,  and  fled  from  death  so  long  as 
he  could  ; that  there  is  no  punish- 
ment for  sins ; and  that  souls, 
created  by  the  operation  of  Nature, 
pass  from  one  animal  to  another, 
and  that  as  brute  beasts  are  born  of 
corruption,  so  man  is  born  when  he 
is  born  again  after  the  deluges. 

His  design  was  to  found  a new 
sect,  under  the  name  of  the  New 
Philosophy.  He  said  that  the  Virgin 
could  not  have  borne  a child  ; and 
that  our  Catholic  faith  is  full  of 
blasphemy  against  the  majesty  of 
God  ; that  the  friars  should  not  be 
permitted  to  dispute,  nor  to  enjoy 
their  revenues,  because  they  defile 

* This  childish  and  absurd  rendering 
of  Bruno’s  philosophy  is  in  itself  a suffi- 
cient comment  on  Mocenigo’s  under- 
standing. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  1592. 


263 


the  Trinity,  “ which  is  impossible,  and  whereby  he 
blasphemes  the  name  and  majesty  of  God ; ” continuing, 


tlie  face  of  the  earth  ; that  they  all 
are  asses,  and  that  our  opinions  are 
the  doctrines  of  asses  ; that  we  have 
no  proof  that  our  faith  is  approved 
by  God ; and  that  not  to  do  to 
others  that  which  we  desire  them 
not  to  do  to  us  suffices  for  good 
living  ; and  that  he  laughs  to  scorn 
all  other  sins  ; and  that  he  marvels 
how  God  endures  so  many  Catholic 
heresies.  He  says  he  will  apply  him- 
self to  the  art  of  divination,  and  to 
practise  the  black  art,  and  all  the 
world  would  follow  him  ; that  St. 
Thomas,  with  all  the  doctors,  knew 
nothing  compared  to  him  ; and  that 
he  could  reason  with  all  the  greatest 
theologians  in  the  world,  so  that 
they  should  not  be  able  to  reply. 

He  told  me  that  in  former  times 
in  Rome  the  Inquisitors  sought  a 
quarrel  with  him  on  one  hundred 
and  thirty  articles,  and  that  he  made 
off  whilst  they  were  being  presented, 
because  it  was  imputed  to  him  that 
he  had  thrown  him  into  the  Tiber 
who  accused  him,  or  whom  he  be- 
lieved to  have  accused  him,  to  the 
Inquisition. 

I desired  to  learn  of  him,  as  I said, 
by  word  of  mouth,  not  knowing  how 
wicked  he  was,  and,  having  taken 
note  of  all  these  things,  to  give 
account  of  them  to  you,  reverend 
father,  when  I doubted  that  he  might 
depart,  as  he  said  he  would  do.  I 
shut  him  in  a room  to  be  examined 
by  you  ; and  because  I believe  him 
to  be  possessed  by  the  devil,  I pray 
for  a speedy  decision  in  this  matter. 
Ciotto  the  librarian,  and  Messer 
Giacomo  Bertano,  another  librarian, 
will  be  able  to  speak  conformably 
with  me  to  the  Holy  Office,  the  said 
Bertano  having  spoken  particularly 
ot  him  to  me,  telling  me  that  he  was 
an  enemy  to  Christ  and  to  our  faith, 
and  that  he  had  heard  him  give 
utterance  to  rank  heresy. 

I also  send  your  most  reverend 
Paternity  three  of  his  printed  books, 
with  some  things  hastily  noted  by 


me,  and  also  a small  work  from  his 
hand  on  God,  by  deduction  of  cer- 
tain of  his  universal  predicates,* 
upon  which  you  can  pass  judg- 
ment. 

Further,  he  frequented  an  aca- 
demy of  Ser  Andrea  Morosini,  son 
of  the  most  noble  Ser  Giacomo, 
which  many  gentlemen  frequent, 
who  perhaps  may  have  heard  him 
expound  certain  of  his  opinions. 

Those  matters  done  by  him  for 
me,  which  are  of  no  account,  I will 
willingly  submit  to  your  judgment, 
for  I desire  in  all  things  to  be  a 
true  and  obedient  son  of  our  Holy 
Church. 

And,  finally,  I reverently  kiss  the 
hands  of  your  most  reverend  Pater- 
nity. 

From  my  house  the  23d  of  May 
1592. — Your  most  reverend  Pater- 
nity’s most  obliged  servant, 

ZUANE  MOCENIGO. 


Document  II. 

Second  Denunciation  of  Giovanni 
Mocenigo  in  accusation  of  Bruno. 

25 th  May  1592. 

Very  Reverend  Father  and  my 
most  Honoured  Sir, — On  that  day 
when  I had  Giordano  Bruno  under 
lock  and  key,  having  asked  him  if 
what  he  would  not  teach  me  (al- 
though he  had  promised  it  to  me  in 
return  for  many  courtesies  and  many 
gifts  which  I had  made  to  him),  he 
should  do  so,  at  least  so  that  I might 
not  accuse  him  of  many  wicked 
words  both  against  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  against  the  holy  Catholic 
Church,  he  made  response  that  he 
had  no  fear  of  the  Inquisition,  be- 
cause he  had  offended  no  man  by 

* Brunnhofer  suggests  that  this  MSS. 
was  a copy  of  that  part  of  the  Summa  Ter- 
minorum  Metaphysicorum  which  is  en- 
titled De  Deo  Seu  Mente. 


264 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


“ And  on  my  bidding  him  be  silent,  and  that  he  would 
be  pleased  to  use  despatch  in  what  he  had  to  do  for  me, 


liis  maimer  of  living,  and  that  he 
did  not  remember  having  said  any 
wicked  thing  whatever ; and  that 
even  if  he  had  said  it,  he  had  said  it 
to  me  alone,  and  that  therefore  he 
could  have  no  fear  that  I should 
injure  him  in  this  manner;  and  that 
even  if  he  were  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Inquisition,  at  the 
most  they  could  force  him  to  wear 
the  habit  he  had  abandoned. 

“ So  you  were  a monk  ? ” said  I to 
him.  He  answered,  “ I took  the  first 
vows  only,  and  in  any  case,  there- 
fore, I shall  always  be  able  to  adjust 
my  affairs.”  I added,  “And  how  can 
you  adjust  your  affairs  if  you  do  not 
believe  in  the  most  Holy  Trinity,  if 
you  hold  our  souls  to  be  made  of 
filth,  and  that  all  the  operations  of 
this  world  are  guided  by  fate,  as  you 
told  me  before  l You  must  first  ad- 
just your  opinions,  and  then  it  will 
be  easy  for  you  to  adjust  the  re- 
mainder; and  for  that,  if  you  like,  I 
offer  you  all  the  help  I can  give  you, 
so  that  you  may  know  that  although 
you  have  shown  yourself  so  wanting 
in  faith  to  me,  and  so  ungrateful  for 
the  courtesies  which  I have  used 
towards  you,  at  any  rate  I wish  to 
be  your  friend  in  all  things.”  To 
this  he  only  answered  by  praying 
me  to  set  him  at  liberty,  and  that  if 
indeed  he  had  his  garments  ready, 
and  had  told  me  he  wished  to  de- 
part, it  was  not  with  the  thought  of 
leaving,  but  to  bridle  my  impatience 
for  learning,  with  which  I continu- 
ally tormented  him,  and  that  if  I 
set  him  free  he  would  teach  me  all 
he  knew,  and  that  to  me  alone  the 
secrets  of  his  works  should  be  in- 
trusted, with  many  works  still  more 
marvellous  and  more  beautiful, which 
he  intended  to  write ; and  that  he 
would  be  my  slave,  without  any 
other  recompense  than  what  I had 
given  him,  and  that  if  I wanted 
everything  which  he  had  in  my 
house,  he  left  it  to  me,  and  that  he 
would  be  satisfied  with  a copy  of  a 


little  book  of  conjurations  which  I 
found  amongst  some  of  his  written 
papers. 

I desired  to  give  account  of  all 
this  to  your  most  reverend  Paternity, 
so  that  by  adding  it  to  the  rest  you 
may  judge  of  the  facts  according  to 
the  wisdom  of  your  judgment. 

There  are  money,  clothes,  papers, 
and  books  of  his,  and  these  you  will 
be  pleased  to  dispose  of ; and  since 
by  your  favour  and  charity  you  are 
pleased  to  overlook  my  offence  in 
delaying  this  accusation,  I pray  you 
to  be  pleased  to  excuse  it  before 
those  most  illustrious  lords  in  re- 
spect of  my  good  intention,  for  I 
could  not  discover  the  whole  at 
once,  besides  which,  I did  not  know 
the  depravity  of  this  man  until  after 
I had  kept  him  in  the  house  it  may 
be  about  two  months,  because  after 
he  came  here  he  was  for  some  time 
in  lodgings  in  this  city,  but  for  the 
most  part  in  Padua;  and  then  I de- 
sired to  get  the  advantage  of  him, 
and  by  his  manner  of  proceeding  I 
could  also  be  assured  that  he  would 
not  have  left  me  unawares  ; so  that 
I have  always  promised  myself  to 
be  able  to  make  him  submit  to  the 
correction  of  the  Holy  Office.  This 
I have  succeeded  in  doing,  and  with 
all  thankfulness  to  your  reverend 
Paternity  for  your  very  diligent  care 
in  this  matter,  I reverently  kiss  your 
hands. 

From  my  house,  25th  May  1592. 

ZUANE  MOCENIGO. 


Document  III. 

Fresh  deposition  of  Giovanni  Mocenigo 
with  regard  to  Bruno,  in  continua- 
tion of  the  denunciations  quoted 
above. 

iqtli  May  1592. 

Since  your  most  reverend  Pater- 
nity requires  me  to  recall  with  ex- 
treme carefulness  all  the  sayings  of 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE , 1592. 


265 


because  I being  a Catholic  and  he  worse  than  a Lutheran, 
I could  not  endure  him,  he  said,  c Oh,  you  will  see  what 
profit  you  will  have  from  your  belief ! ’ and  laughing, 
told  me  to  wait  for  the  judgment,  when  the  dead  should 
arise,  ‘ and  then  you  shall  be  rewarded  according  to  your 
deeds.’  And  in  another  discourse  he  said  that  howsoever 
wise  this  Kepublic  might  be  reputed  in  other  matters,  in 
the  matter  of  the  wealth  of  the  friars,  he,  for  his  part, 
condemned  the  Venetians,  who  ought  to  do  as  they  do  in 
France,  for  the  revenues  of  the  monasteries  should  be 
bestowed  upon  the  nobles,  and  the  friars  should  live  upon 
broth,  and  that  in  this  manner  all  would  be  well ; for 
those  who  turn  friars  nowadays  are  asses,  in  whom  the 
enjoyment  of  such  wealth  is  a very  great  sin.  Besides, 


Giordano  Bruno  against  our  Catholic 
faith  ; I remember  to  have  heard 
him  say,  beside  the  things  already 
written  to  your  most  reverend 
Paternity,  that  the  Church  in  these 
times  does  not  deal  with  men  as  the 
Apostles  did,  for  they  converted  the 
people  by  preaching  and  by  the  ex- 
ample of  good  living  ; but  that  now 
he  who  will  not  follow  the  Catholic 
faith  must  be  chastised  and  tormen- 
ted ; for  they  take  men  by  violence, 
and  not  by  love;  that  this  world  could 
not  remain  as  it  is  the  abiding-place 
of  ignorance  and  without  any  re- 
ligion that  was  good  ; that  truly  the 
Catholic  religion  pleased  him  much 
more  than  the  others,  but  that  it 
had  great  need  of  reform  as  well  as 
they,  and  is  not  good  as  it  is  ; but 
that  the  world  would  speedily  bring 
about  a general  reform  of  its  own, 
because  it  could  not  remain  so 
corrupt ; and  that  he  hoped  great 
things  from  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  that  he  therefore  desired  to 
hasten  his  works  that  he  might  be 
well  thought  of,  because  he  wished 
to  be  captain  when  the  time  came  ; 
and  that  he  would  not  always  remain 
poor,  because  he  should  enjoy  the 
treasures  of  others.  He  also  told  me 
with  regard  to  the  want  of  know- 


ledge of  these  days,  that  greater 
ignorance  flourishes  now  than  ever 
was  in  the  world,  because  men  say 
they  know  that  which  they  do  not 
understand,  which  is  that  God  is 
one  and  triune,  and  that  these  are 
impossibilities,  errors,  and  great 
blasphemies  against  the  majesty  of 
God. 

And  on  my  bidding  him  be  silent, 
and  that  he  would  please  to  hasten 
in  what  he  had  to  do  for  me, 
because  I being  a Catholic,  and  he 
worse  than  a Lutheran,  I could  not 
endure  him,  he  said  to  me,  “ Oh  ! 
you  will  see  how  you  will  profit  by 
your  faith  ! ” and  he  laughed  and  told 
me  to  wait  for  the  judgment  when 
the  dead  should  arise,  and  I should 
then  see  the  reward  of  the  righteous. 

All  which  I affirm  to  your  re- 
verend Paternity  on  my  oath  to 
be  most  true,  and  finally  I humbly 
kiss  your  hands. 

I also  send  you  a book  by  the  said 
Giordano,  where  I have  noted  a foul 
passage,  as  you  can  see,  and  you  can 
place  it  under  consideration  with  the 
rest. 

From  my  house,  29th  May  1592. — 
F rom  your  most  reverend  Paternity’s 
very  humble  servant, 

ZUANE  MOCENIGO. 


266 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


lie  told  me  that  in  the  matter  of  marriage,1  the  Church 
committed  a sin  in  making  that  a sin  by  which  we  render 
a service  to  Nature,  and  one  which  he  thought  of  very 
great  merit.” 

The  accusations  of  Mocenigo  may  be  taken  as  a mea- 
sure alike  of  his  capacity  and  of  his  character.  When 
asked  on  the  3d  June  if  he  had  had  dealings  with 
the  evil  spirit  and  had  made  profession  of  the  black 
art,  Bruno  answered,  “ No ; that  he  had  ever  despised 
such  matters  ; but  that  he  purposed  to  look  for  a solitary 
and  quiet  place  (which  he  had  not  as  yet  discovered),  and 
to  study  astrology  at  his  leisure,  in  order  to  see  if  there 
was  any  truth  in  them,  for  it  was  the  only  science  with 
which  he  had  not  as  yet  acquainted  himself.”  Next  day 
he  was  asked  if  he  had  an  enemy  in  those  parts  of  the 
country  and  for  what  reason ; and  in  reply  the  unhappy 
prisoner  shows  that  he  knew  by  whom  he  was  betrayed. 
“ My  only  enemy,”  he  answered,  “ is  Ser  Giovanni  Moce- 
nigo, who  threatened  my  life  and  my  honour,  and  that 
continually.” 

On  his  own  showing,  the  Venetian  enticed  Bruno 
away  from  the  comparative  security  of  Germany  with  the 
intention  of  delivering  him  up  to  the  terrors  of  the 
Inquisition.  Avarice,  too,  seems  to  have  had  its  share 
in  the  promptings  of  his  shallow  nature,  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  querulous  and  complaining  tone  of  his  evi- 
dence when  it  touches  upon  money.  No  sooner  was  his 
curiosity  appeased,  and  his  mind  satisfied  that  all  his 
expenses  were  in  vain,  than  he  rifled  the  baggage  of  the 
guest,  for  whom  the  sacred  rites  of  hospitality  were  no 
protection,  and  gave  him  up  to  destruction. 

Bruno,  on  his  side,  could  not  have  been  long  in  measur- 
ing the  capacity  of  Mocenigo,  and  it  is  within  our 
knowledge  of  the  philosopher’s  outspoken  and  impetuous 
disposition  that  he  should  have  permitted  himself  every 
freedom  of  speech  before  his  dangerous  pupil,  who,  with 

1 This  statement  is  a perversion  of  the  last  verses  of  De  Immcnso. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE , 1592. 


267 


the  understanding  of  a child  and  the  power  of  a malicious 
man,  perverted  the  doctrines  of  his  master,  and  took 
upon  himself  the  office  of  executioner  as  soon  as  he  saw 
his  plan  defeated  for  winning,  by  means  of  magic,  that 
superiority  which  was  denied  to  him  by  Nature.  Once 
assured  that  no  hope  of  magical  interposition  remained, 
he  immediately  put  in  action  his  plan,  which,  he  said,  was 
in  his  mind  when  he  first  invited  Bruno  to  visit  Venice, 
but  which,  no  doubt,  occurred  to  him  only  when  he  felt  a 
desire  to  punish  the  Nolan  because  he  was  a philosopher 
instead  of  a magician.  Thus  it  was  reserved  for  this 
feeble  son  of  a great  house  to  set  in  motion  the  vast  and 
terrific  machinery  of  the  Inquisition. 

When,  on  the  2 1 st  May,  Bruno  waited  upon  his  patron 
to  take  his  leave,  Mocenigo,  stripped  of  his  delusions, 
showed  himself  in  his  true  colours.  “ He  insisted  upon 
it  that  I should  remain,”  Bruno  says  in  his  evidence, 
“ and  I insisted  that  I must  go ; and  he  first  began  to 
complain  that  I had  not  taught  him  as  much  as  I was 
under  engagement  to  do,  and  he  then  threatened  and  said, 
if  I would  not  remain  willingly,  he  would  force  me  to 
stay ; and  on  the  night  of  the  day  following,  which  was 
Friday,  seeing  that  I persisted  in  my  resolution,  and  that 
I had  arranged  my  affairs  and  had  taken  measures  to 
despatch  what  was  mine  to  Frankfort,  he  came  when  I 
was  in  bed,  under  pretence  of  wishing  to  speak  with  me, 
and  he  was  followed  by  his  servant  called  Bartolo,  with, 
if  I mistake  not,  five  or  six  others,  who  were,  I believe, 
the  gondoliers  of  persons  living  in  that  neighbourhood, 
and  they  forced  me  to  rise  from  my  bed  and  brought  me 
to  a garret,  and  locked  me  into  it,  Ser  Giovanni  himself 
saying  that  if  I would  remain  and  teach  him  the  terms 
of  the  memory  of  words  and  the  terms  of  geometry  which 
he  had  required  from  me  at  tli6  beginning,  he  would  set 
me  at  liberty,  otherwise  a worse  thing  would  befall  me  ” 
(Doc.  viii.)  Bruno,  however,  insisted  that  he  had  taught 
all  that  was  requii-ed  of  him,  and  that  he  had  done  nothing 


268 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


deserving  sucli  treatment,  and  Mocenigo  then  bolted  the 
doors  upon  him  and  quitted  him. 

On  the  day  after,  the  23d  May,  the  traitor  put  the 
crowning  touch  to  his  work,  sending  his  first  denunciation 
to  the  Father  Inquisitor.  By  an  officer  of  the  Inquisition, 
accompanied  by  a body  of  men,  the  prisoner  was  con- 
ducted to  the  lower  parts  of  the  house,  and  left  in  a 
storehouse  until  nightfall,  when  another  officer  appeared 
with  his  followers  to  convey  the  unhappy  philosopher  to 
the  prisons  of  the  Holy  Office. 

On  the  25th  May  Mocenigo  took  his  oath  of  confirma- 
tion before  the  Father  Inquisitor,  present  in  the  Holy 
Office.1  The  trial  at  once  began.  On  the  29th  May 
Mocenigo  made  his  third  denunciation,  instancing  against 
Bruno  his  assertion  that  the  Church  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  converted  the  people  by  preaching  and  by  the 
example  of  a holy  life,  but  that  he  who  will  not  be  a 
Catholic  in  these  times  is  chastised  and  tormented,  and 
used  with  violence  instead  of  with  love.  Moreover,  he 
stated,  as  one  of  the  counts  against  Bruno,  that  the 
unfortunate  philosopher  foretold  a reform  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  reform  he  desired  to  hasten,  as  he  in- 
tended to  be  captain  and  to  enjoy  the  treasures  of  others. 

Upon  these  counts  the  trial  proceeded.  The  tribunal 
of  the  Inquisition  consisted  of  the  Father  Inquisitor, 
Giovanni  Gabrielli  di  Saluzzo  ; the  Apostolic  Nuncio  in 
Venice,  then  Ludovico  Taberna  ; the  Patriarch  of  Venice, 
then  Lorenzo  Priuli ; and  lastly,  one  of  the  three  noble 
members  of  the  “ Savii  dell ’ Uresia,”  who  attended  the 
trial  by  turns  as  delegates  of  the  Council  of  Ten,  for 
whom  they  watched  the  proceedings  of  the  Inquisition. 
These  were  Aloysio  Foscari,  Sebastian  Barbadico,  and 
Thomas  Morosini. 

1 The  Patriarchal  palace,  in  which  these  trials,  the  last  of  which  was 
these  examinations  probably  took  held  by  the  Inquisition  in  1793- 
place,  adjoins  the  palace  of  the  The  prisons  of  the  Holy  Office  were 
Doges,  against  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  in  the  walls  on  the  western  side  of 
The  Patriarch  usually  presided  at  the  Bridge  of  Sighs. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  1592. 


269 


The  evidence  of  the  witnesses  was  then  taken.  On 
the  26th  May  the  bookseller  Ciotto  was  examined,  and  on 
the  29th  follows  the  deposition  of  Bertano,  the  bookseller 
of  Venice.1  While  testifying  to  Bruno’s  learning  and 
ability,  they  are  both  careful  to  guard  themselves  against 
any  suspicion  of  consorting  with  a heretic,  perhaps  as 
much  from  a sense  of  self-preservation  as  from  the  desire, 
which  they  no  doubt  felt,  to  shield  the  prisoner  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  wrath  of  the  Inquisition.  “ Never,” 
says  Ciotto,  “ did  he  give  utterance  to  a word  by  which  I 
might  have  doubted  that  he  was  a Catholic  and  a good 
Christian.”  This  evidence  is  loyally  supported  by  Ber- 
tano. “ While  with  me,  he  did  not  say,  nor  have  I 
perceived,  anything  whatever  which  is  not  Christian.” 
Both  librarians  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Bruno  in 
Frankfort,  where  the  Catholic  party  placed  no  restriction 
on  freedom  of  speech. 

On  the  29th  May  1592  Bruno  appeared  before  the 
Tribunal.  He  is  described  by  Ciotto  as  a “ small  man, 
meagre,  with  a small  black  beard,  about  forty  years 
of  age.”  When  conducted  into  the  presence  of  the 
judges,  he  swore,  with  his  hand  upon  the  Scriptures, 
to  speak  the  truth,  and  when,  before  his  interrogation 
began,  he  was  admonished  to  speak  the  truth,  he  cried 
of  his  own  accord,  “ I will  speak  the  truth.  Many  times 
I have  been  threatened  with  this  Holy  Office,  and  I have 
always  taken  the  threat  for  a jest,  for  I am  one  ready  to 
give  account  of  myself.” 

A summary  of  the  chief  events  of  his  life  then  follows, 
and  his  philosophy  naturally  mingles  with  the  recital. 
On  being  questioned,  he  replies  : “ Being  at  Frankfort 
last  year,  I had  two  letters  from  the  Signor  Giovanni 

1 If  the  evidence  of  the  bookseller  the  year  1589  was  spent  by  the 
Bertano  is  trustworthy  (Doc.  vii.),  Nolan  in  Helmstedt.  There  is, 
Bruno  was  in  Frankfort  at  the  however,  no  reason  apparent  why 
Easter  fair  of  15S9.  Professor  he  should  not  have  paid  a short  visit 
Sigwart,  however,  is  disposed  to  to  Frankfort  in  the  spring  of  that 
think  that  Bertano  was  in  error,  as  year. 


270 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Mocenigo,  a Venetian  gentleman,  in  which  he  invited  me 
to  come  to  Venice,  desiring,  according  to  what  he  wrote 
to  me,  that  I should  teach  him  the  art  of  memory  and 
invention,  promising  to  treat  me  well,  and  that  I should 
he  content  with  him  ; and  so  I came  about  seven  or  eight 
months  ago ; and  I have  taught  him  various  terms  relat- 
ing to  these  two  sciences,  at  first  living  elsewhere,  and 
then  with  him  in  his  own  house ; and  it  appearing  to  me 
that  I had  done  and  taught  him  enough,  and  as  much 
as  I ought,  of  those  things  which  he  desired  of  me,  and 
meditating  a return  to  Frankfort  to  print  some  works  of 
mine,  last  Thursday,  in  order  that  I might  depart,  I took 
leave  of  him  ; and  on  this,  suspecting  that  rather  than 
go  to  Frankfort,  as  I said,  I wished  to  leave  his  house  in 
order  to  teach  other  persons  the  same  sciences  which  I 
had  taught  to  him  and  others,  he  entreated  me  with  much 
earnestness  to  remain ; and  I continually  insisting  that  I 
would  go,  he  first  began  to  complain  that  I had  not 
taught  him  as  much  as  I had  promised,  and  then  to 
threaten  me,  by  telling  me  that  if  I would  not  remain 
willingly,  he  would  find  a way  to  compel  me  to  stay.” 

Bruno  then  gives  the  account  of  his  capture  already 
quoted  concluding  with  his  arrival  in  the  prisons  of 
the  Holy  Office,  “ where  I believe  myself  to  have  been 
brought  by  means  of  the  said  Ser  Giovanni,  who  being 
angry,  for  the  reason  I have  already  given,  has  brought 
an  accusation  against  me.” 

At  the  interrogation  of  his  judges,  he  next  repeats  the 
story  of  his  life 

“ My  name  is  Gioi'dano,  of  the  family  of  Bruni,  of  the 
city  of  Nola,  twelve  miles  from  Naples.  I was  born  and 
brought  up  in  that  city,  and  my  profession  was  and  is 
letters  and  the  sciences.  My  father’s  name  was  Gio- 
vanni, and  my  mother  Fraulissa  Savolina,  and  my  father 
was  a soldier  by  profession  ; he  is  dead,  and  my  mother 
also.  I am  about  forty-four  years  of  age  ; I was  born, 
as  far  as  I have  heard,  in  May  in  the  year  ’48  ; and 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  15Q2. 


271 


I remained  in  Naples  acquiring  learning,  logic,  and  dia- 
lectics until  I was  fourteen ; and  I used  to  attend  the 
public  lectures  of  one  who  was  called  the  Sarnese ; and 
I went  privately  to  learn  logic  from  an  Augustinian 
father  called  Fra  Theophilo  da  Yairano,  who  afterwards 
taught  metaphysics  in  Rome  ; and  at  about  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  of  age  I took  the  habit  of  St.  Dominic  in  the 
monastery  or  convent  of  St.  Dominic  at  Naples,  and  was 
invested  by  a Father,  who  was  then  Prior  of  the  convent, 
named  Maestro  Ambrosio  Pasqua ; and,  the  year  of  pro- 
bation ended,  I was  admitted  by  himself  to  the  profession, 
which  I solemnly  made  in  the  same  convent ; and  I do 
not  think  that  any  one  else  made  profession  at  the  same 
time,  except  a lay  brother ; and  afterwards  I was  pro- 
moted to  holy  orders,  and  in  due  time  to  the  priesthood ; 
and  I sang  my  first  mass  in  Campagna,  a town  of  the 
same  kingdom,  far  from  Naples,  staying  at  the  time  in  a 
convent  of  the  same  Order,  dedicated  to  St.  Bartholomew. 
And  I continued  in  this  habit  of  St.  Dominic,  cele- 
brating mass  and  the  divine  offices,  and  under  obedience 
to  the  superiors  of  the  same  religion,  and  to  the  Priors 
of  the  monasteries,  and  convents  in  which  I was,  until 
the  year  ’76,  which  was  the  year  following  the  year  of 
the  Jubilee,  when,  being  in  Rome,  in  the  convent  of 
the  Minerva,  under  obedience  to  Maestro  Sisto  de  Luca, 
Procurator  of  the  Order,  where  I had  gone  to  present 
myself  because  I had  been  proceeded  against  twice  at 
Naples,  first,  for  having  given  away  certain  figures  and 
images  of  saints,  retaining  a crucifix  only,  whence  it 
was  imputed  to  me  that  I despised  the  images  of  the 
saints  ; and  also  for  having  said  to  a novice  who  was 
reading  the  History  of  the  Seven  Joys  in  verse,  that  he 
should  rid  himself  of  that,  and  rather  read  some  other 
book,  as  the  Life  of  the  Holy  Fathers.  The  which  suit 
was  renewed  at  the  time  that  I went  to  Rome  ; with 
other  articles  which  I do  not  know.  For  which  reason 
I left  a religious  life,  and,  putting  off  the  habit,  went 


2J2 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


to  Noli,  in  the  Genoese  territory,  where,  by  teaching 
grammar  to  boys,  I supported  myself  for  four  or  five 
months.” 

At  the  second  examination  of  Bruno,  he  is  required  to 
say  where  he  went  when  he  left  Noli,  and  in  what  parts, 
countries,  towns,  and  places  he  was  from  then  till  this 
time,  and  how  he  was  occupied,  and  what  he  did.  To 
this  he  replies  : “ I remained  at  Noli,  as  I have  said, 
about  four  months,  teaching  grammar  to  boys  and  read- 
ing astronomy  with  certain  gentlemen ; and  then  I left, 
and  went  first  to  Savona,  where  I remained  about  a 
fortnight,  and  from  Savona  to  Turin,  where,  not  finding 
entertainment  to  my  satisfaction,  I came  by  the  Po  to 
Venice,  where  I remained  for  a month  and  a half  in  the 
Frezzaria,  lodging  in  the  house  of  a man  in  the  Arsenal, 
and  I do  not  know  his  name  ; and  whilst  I was  here  I 
caused  a certain  small  book,  entitled  Of  the  Signs  of  the 
Times,  to  be  printed,  and  had  this  work  printed  to  get 
a little  money  together  to  be  able  to  support  myself, 
the  which  work  I first  showed  to  the  Reverend  Father 
Maestro  Renigio  of  Florence ; and  leaving  this,  I went 
to  Padua,  where,  finding  some  fathers  of  the  Dominican 
Order,  acquaintances  of  mine,  they  persuaded  me  to  wear 
the  habit  again,  although  I had  not  wished  to  return  to 
a religious  life  ; but  it  appeared  to  them  more  convenient 
to  wear  the  habit  than  not ; and  with  this  intention  I 
went  to  Bergamo,  and  had  a gown  made  for  myself  of 
common  white  cloth,  and  over  it  I put  the  scapulary 
which  I had  kept  when  I left  Rome,  and  in  this  habit  I 
took  the  road  for  Lyons  ; and  when  I was  at  Chambery, 
going  to  lodge  at  the  convent  of  the  Order,  and  seeing 
myself  very  coldly  treated,  and  discoursing  upon  this  with 
an  Italian  Father  who  was  there,  he  said,  1 Be  warned, 
for  you  will  find  no  sort  of  kindness  in  these  parts,  and 
the  farther  you  go  the  less  you  will  find  ; ’ therefore  I 
turned  towards  Geneva,  and  on  arriving  there  went  to 
lodge  at  the  inn  ; and  shortly  after  the  Marchese  de  Vico, 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  1592. 


273 


a Neapolitan,  who  was  staying  in  that  city,  asked  me 
who  I was,  and  if  I desired  to  remain  and  to  profess  the 
religion  of  that  city  ; to  whom,  after  I had  given  account 
of  myself,  and  of  the  cause  for  which  I had  left  the 
religious  life,  I added  that  I did  not  intend  to  follow  the 
creed  of  this  city,  because  I did  not  know  what  religion 
it  was  ; and  that  therefore  I rather  desired  to  remain 
there,  and  to  live  at  liberty  and  to  be  in  a place  of 
safety,  than  for  any  other  reason,  and  being  recommended 
in  any  case  to  put  off  that  habit  which  I wore,  I took 
those  clothes  and  caused  a pair  of  breeches  to  be  made 
for  myself,  with  other  things,  and  the  said  Marquis,  with 
other  Italians,  gave  me  a sword,  a hat,  a cloak,  and  other 
things  necessary  to  clothe  me,  procuring  these  that  I 
might  be  enabled  to  support  myself  and  to  correct  for 
the  printers,  in  which  employment  I remained  about  two 
months,  going  sometimes,  however,  to  the  preaching  and 
sermons  of  such  Italians  and  Frenchmen  as  taught  and 
preached  in  that  city.  Many  times,  amongst  others, 
I heard  the  readings  and  sermons  of  Nicolo  Balbani  of 
Lucca,  who  read  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  and  preached 
the  Gospels  ; but  being  told  that  I could  not  remain  there 
longer  if  I was  not  disposed  to  embrace  the  religion  of  the 
citizens,  without  doing  which  I had  no  more  help  to 
expect  from  them,  I resolved  to  go  away,  and  I went  to 
Lyons,  where  I remained  a month  ; and  not  finding  means 
of  gaining  sufficient  to  live  by  and  for  my  needs,  I went 
from  there  to  Toulouse,  where  there  is  a famous  school, 
and  having  made  acquaintance  with  men  of  learning,  I 
was  invited  to  lecture  to  different  scholars  on  the  use  of 
the  globes  and  asti’onomy,  which  I did,  and  I delivered 
philosophical  lectures  for  perhaps  six  months  ; and  mean- 
while the  place  of  ordinary  lecturer  on  philosophy  in  that 
city,  which  is  given  by  general  vote,  being  vacant,  I 
sought  to  take  my  degree,  which  I did  as  master  of  arts, 
and  thus  presented  myself  to  the  said  general  vote,  and 
was  admitted  and  approved,  and  afterwards  I delivered 

S 


274 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


lectures  in  tliat  city  for  two  years  continually  on  the  text 
of  Aristotle,  Dc  Anima,  with  other  lectures  on  philoso- 
phy ; and  then,1  because  of  the  civil  wars,  I departed  and 
went  to  Paris,  where  I proposed  to  give  an  extraordinary 
lecture  to  make  a name  for  myself,  and  to  show  such 
powers  as  I had,  and  I gave  thirty  lectures  on  the  thirty 
divine  attributes  from  St.  Thomas,  from  the  first  part ; 
and  then  being  desired  to  take  an  ordinary  lectureship, 
I refused,  and  would  not  accept  it,  because  the  public 
lecturers  of  this  city  usually  go  to  mass  and  to  the  other 
divine  offices,  and  I have  always  avoided  this,  knowing 
that  I was  excommunicated  because  I left  the  religious 
life  and  put  off  the  habit ; for  although  in  Toulouse  I held 
that  ordinary  lectureship,  I was  not  obliged  to  go  to  mass, 
as  I should  have  been  in  the  said  city  of  Paris  if  I had 
accepted  the  said  ordinary  lectureship ; and  I acquired 
such  fame  by  giving  that  extraordinary  lecture,  that  King 
Henry  III.  had  me  called  one  day  to  ask  me  whether  the 
memory  which  I had  and  which  I taught  was  natural  or 
came  by  magic  arts  ; to  whom  I gave  satisfaction,  and  he 
perceived,  both  by  what  I told  him  and  by  what  I caused 
him  to  accomplish  himself,  that  it  was  not  by  art  magic, 
but  by  science ; and  after  this  I had  a book  printed  De 
Memoria,  under  the  title  of  Umbris  Idcarum,  which  I 
dedicated  to  his  Majesty,  and  on  this  occasion  he  made 
me  lecturer-extraordinary  and  a pensioner  ; and  I con- 
tinued to  lecture  in  that  city,  as  I have  said,  about  five 
years,  and  because  of  the  tumults  afterwards,  I took  leave, 
and,  with  letters  from  the  same  King,  I went  to  England 
to  stay  with  his  Majesty’s  ambassador,  who  was  called  the 
Sr.  Della  Malviciera,  by  name  Michel  de  Castelnovo,  in 
whose  dwelling  I did  nothing,  but  passed  for  his  gentle- 
man. I remained  two  years  and  a half  in  England,  not 
attending  at  this  time  also  where  mass  was  said  in  the 
house,  nor  going  to  mass  out  of  doors,  nor  to  sermons,  for 

1 Here  certain  words  are  cancelled  which  imply  that  Bruno’s  departure 
was  caused  by  private  dissensions. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  1592. 


275 


the  aforesaid  reason ; and  the  ambassador  returning  to 
France  to  the  court,  I accompanied  him  to  Paris,  where  I 
remained  for  another  year,  keeping  company  with  those 
lords  whom  I knew,  however  at  my  own  expense  for  the 
greatest  part  of  the  time  ; and  leaving  Paris  because  of  the 
tumults,  I went  away  to  Germany.  I went  first  to  Mez 
alias  Magonsa  (Mayence),  which  is  an  archiepiscopal  city, 
and  the  first  electorate  of  the  empire,  where  I remained  for 
twelve  days  ; and  not  finding  suitable  entertainment  there, 
or  at  Vispure  (Wiirzburg),  a place  not  far  off,  I went  to 
Wittenberg  in  Saxony,  where  I found  two  factions,  one  of 
philosophers  who  were  Calvinists,  and  the  other  of  theo- 
logians who  were  Lutherans ; and  a doctor  among  the 
latter  who  was  called  Alberigo  Gentile  a Marchegiano, 
whom  I had  known  in  England,  a professor  of  law, 
received  me  with  kindness  and  presented  me  as  lecturer 
on  the  Organon  of  Aristotle,  and  I gave  other  lectures 
on  philosophy  for  two  years,  in  which  time  the  old  Duke 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  who  being  a Calvinist  and  his 
father  a Lutheran,  began  to  favour  the  party  opposed  to 
those  who  favoured  me,  so  that  I went  away,  and  went  to 
Prague,  and  remained  there  six  months,  and  whilst  I was 
there  I had  a book  on  Geometry  printed,  which  I pre- 
sented to  the  Emperor,  from  whom  I received  a gift  of 
three  hundred  thalers,  and  with  this  money  I left  Prague 
and  remained  for  a year  at  the  Julia  Academy  in  Bruns- 
wick, where  the  death  of  the  Duke  (margin,  “ Who  was  a 
heretic,”)  occurring  at  this  time,  at  his  obsequies,  together 
with  many  others  of  the  university,  I made  an  oration,  for 
which  his  son  and  successor  gave  me  eighty  crowns  of 
that  place ; and  I departed  and  went  to  Frankfort  to  have 
two  books  printed,  one  De  Minimo,  and  the  other  De 
Numero , Monade , et  Figura , &c. ; and  in  Frankfort  I 
remained  for  about  six  months,  lodging  in  the  convent  of 
the  Carmelites,  the  place  assigned  to  me  by  the  printer, 
who  was  obliged  to  give  me  lodging ; and  from  Frankfort, 
as  I have  said  in  my  other  examination,  invited  by  Ser 


276 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Zuane  Mocenigo,  I came  seven  or  eight  months  ago  to 
Venice,  where  that  which  I have  recounted  in  my  other 
examination  then  took  place,  and  I went  again  to  Frank- 
fort, leaving  this  to  have  my  other  works  printed,  and  one 
in  particular  on  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts , . . . hoping  to 
obtain  leave  to  resume  the  clerical  habit  without  entering 
the  l’eligious  life  ; and  at  this  chapter  held  here  during  the 
past  few  days,  where  there  were  many  Neapolitan  fathers 
of  the  Order,  I have  spoken  of  this  matter,  in  particular 
with  Father  Fra  Domenico  de  Nocera,  Father  Fra  Serafino, 
bachelor  of  arts,  of  Nocera,  and  with  Fra  Giovanni,  of  I 
know  not  what  place,  but  he  is  from  the  kingdom  of 
Naples,  and  with  another,  who  also  himself  quitted  the 
religious  life,  but  a short  while  ago  he  resumed  the 
habit ; he  is  of  Atripalda,  but  I do  not  know  his  name — 
in  religion  he  is  called  Fra  Felice  ; and  besides  these 
fathers  I have  spoken  with  Zuane  Mocenigo,  who  also 
promised  to  help  me  in  all  things  which  were  right.”  He 
adds,  “ I have  said  that  I wished  to  present  myself  at  the 
feet  of  his  Holiness  with  some  of  my  approved  works, 
having  some  others  which  I do  not  approve,  meaning 
thereby  to  say,  that  there  are  certain  works  of  mine  com- 
posed by  me  and  printed  which  I do  not  approve,  because 
in  them  I have  spoken  and  discoursed  too  philosophically, 
dishonestly,  and  not  altogether  as  a good  Christian ; and 
in  especial  I know  that  in  some  of  these  works  I have 
taught  and  held  certain  things  philosophically  which 
ought  to  be  attributed  to  the  power,  wisdom,  and  good- 
ness of  God,  according  to  the  Christian  faith,  founding 
my  doctrine  upon  sense  and  reason,  and  not  upon  faith  ; 
and  this  is  for  the  generality,  and  for  particulars  I refer 
to  my  writings,  for  I do  not  now  recall  any  precise  article 
or  particular  doctrine  which  I may  have  taught,  but  I 
will  reply  according  as  I shall  be  questioned  and  as  I 
shall  remember.” 

Being  asked  on  the  2d  of  June,  in  presence  of  D. 
Sebastian  Barbadico,  if  he  had  a memorandum  of  all 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE , 1592. 


2 77 


the  books  which  he  had  printed,  and  if  he  remembered 
their  subjects  and  doctrine,  Bruno  responded : “ I have 
made  a list  of  all  those  books  which  I have  given  to  be 
printed,  and  also  of  those  which  I have  composed  and 
which  are  not  yet  printed,  and  which  I was  revising  to 
give  them  to  the  press  as  soon  as  I should  have  oppor- 
tunity, either  at  Frankfort  or  elsewhere,  the  which  note 
and  list  is  this.1  . . . The  subject  of  all  these  books, 
speaking  generally,  is  philosophical  matter,  diffei’ing 
according  to  the  titles  of  the  said  books ; as  may  be 
seen  in  them  all,  I have  always  defined  things 
philosophically,  and  according  to  natural  principles  and 
the  light  of  Nature,  not  having  regard  chiefly  to  that 
which  ought  to  be  held  according  to  the  faith ; and  I 
believe  that  nothing  can  be  found  in  them  by  which  I 
can  be  condemned  for  professing  rather  to  desire  to  attack 
religion  than  to  exalt  philosophy,  although  I may  have 
uttered  many'  impious  things  founded  on  my  natural 
light.” 

Asked  whether,  publicly  or  privately,  in  the  lectures 
given  by  him  in  different  places,  according  to  what  he 
had  said  above  in  his  other  examinations,  he  had  ever 
taught,  held,  or  disputed  any  article  contrary  or  repug- 
nant to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  holy  Koman  Church,  he  replied : “ I have  taught 
nothing  directly  against  the  Christian  Catholic  religion, 
although  I have  done  so  indirectly,  as  was  determined 
in  Paris,  where,  however,  I was  permitted  to  hold  cer- 
tain disputations  under  the  title  of  ‘ A Hundred  and 
Twenty  Articles  against  the  Peripatetics  and  other  Ordi- 
nary Philosophers,’  printed  by  permission  of  the  Superiors  ; 
and  I was  allowed  to  treat  them  according  to  natural 
principles,  not  prejudicing  the  truth  according  to  the 
light  of  faith,  in  which  fashion  the  books  of  Aristotle  and 
Plato  may  be  read  and  taught;  for  they  in  the  same 

1 The  list  is  not  forthcoming  at  submitted,  with  other  papers,  to  the 
Venice.  It  was  probably,  therefore,  supreme  tribunal  at  Rome. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


way  are  indirectly  contrary  to  the  faith — indeed,  much 
more  contrary  than  the  articles  philosophically  propounded 
and  defended  by  me,  all  of  which  may  be  known  by  what 
is  printed  in  these  last  Latin  books  at  Frankfort,  called 
De  Minimo,  De  Monade,  De  Immenso  et  Innumerabilis, 
and  in  part  of  De  Compositions  Imaginum  ; and  in  these 
books  particularly  may  be  seen  my  intention  and  what 
I have  held,  which  is,  in  a word,  that  I hold  that  there 
is  an  infinite  universe,  which  is  the  effect  of  the  In- 
finite Divine  Power,  because  I esteem  it  to  be  a thing 
unworthy  of  the  Divine  Goodness  and  Power  that,  being 
able  to  produce  another  world,  and  an  infinite  number 
of  others  beside  this  world,  it  should  produce  one  finite 
world.”  “ With  regard  to  the  personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  I stand,”  he  says,  “ within  the  boundaries  of  philo- 
sophy ; and  though  I do  not  remember  to  have  given  in 
writing  or  in  speech  any  sign  that  I do  not  hold  these 
doctrines,  I do  not  understand  the  Divine  Spirit  to  be  a 
Third  Person,  except  in  the  manner  of  Pythagoras  and 
of  Solomon,  as  the  soul  of  the  universe  or  contributive 
( assistente ) to  the  universe.  From  this  Spirit,  which  is 
One,  all  being  flows ; there  is  one  truth  and  one  good- 
ness penetrating  and  governing  all  things.  In  Nature 
are  the  thoughts  of  God.  They  are  made  manifest  in 
figures  and  vestiges  to  the  eye  of  sense  ; they  are  repro- 
duced in  our  thoughts,  where  alone  we  can  arrive  at 
consciousness  of  true  being.  We  are  surrounded  by  eter- 
nity and  by  the  uniting  of  love.  There  is  but  one  centre, 
from  which  all  species  issue,  as  rays  from  a sun,  and  to 
which  all  species  return.  There  is  but  one  celestial  ex- 
panse, where  the  stars  choir  forth  unbroken  harmony. 
In  the  circle,  which  comprehends  in  itself  the  beginning 
and  the  end,  we  have  the  figure  of  true  being ; and  cir- 
cular motion  is  the  only  enduring  form  of  motion.  From 
this  Spirit,  which  is  called  the  Life  of  the  Universe,  pro- 
ceed the  life  and  soul  of  everything  which  has  soul  and 
life, — the  which  life,  however,  I understand  to  be  im- 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  ijgs. 


279 


mortal,  as  well  in  bodies  as  in  their  souls,  all  being 
immortal,  there  being  no  other  death  than  division  and 
congregation ; which  doctrine  seems  to  be  expressed  in 
Ecclesiastes,  where  it  is  said  nothing  is  new  under  the 
sun  ” (Doc.  xi.) 

This  frank  and  manly  avowal  of  his  chief  philosophic 
doctrines,  added  to  the  declaration  that  he  had  ab- 
stained from  polemics,  that  he  had  made  no  public 
profession  which  was  contrary  to  Catholic  tenets,  availed 
him  nothing.  If  the  errors  of  the  age  in  which  he  was 
born  were  great,  his  own  errors  were  even  greater.  To 
proclaim  the  rights  of  reason,  to  insist  that  in  Nature 
“ shines  and  will  shine  the  divine  intellectual  sun,”  and 
to  declare  himself  the  herald  of  the  truth  at  a time  when 
superstition  was  blended  with  ignorance,  was  to  incur 
the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  ; and,  quoting  his  own 
words,  he  might  have  said,  “ I soon  found  that  mis- 
fortunes were  gathering  thickly  around  me,  and  that  I 
had  committed  myself  to  a perilous  destiny,  having  built 
up  for  myself  the  walls  of  my  own  prison,  and  delivered 
myself  up  to  my  own  ruin.” 

Many  details  with  respect  to  his  doctrines  are  con- 
tained in  the  long  examination  of  Tuesday,  the  2d  of 
June.  Of  the  miracles  and  death  of  Christ  he  says,  “ I 
have  said  that  they  bear  witness  to  the  Divinity,  but  a 
greater  witness  than  these  is  the  evangelical  law.”  He 
gave  an  absolute  denial  to  the  question  whether  he  had 
said  Christ  was  an  evil-doer,  adding,  “ with  an  extreme 
sadness,”  “ I know  not  how  these  things  can  be  imputed 
to  me.  I hold  that  Christ  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary ; and  I will  submit 
to  any  punishment  if  proof  is  given  that  I have  said  or 
taught  the  contrary.”  To  the  question  if  he  had  addicted 
himself  to  studies  in  theology,  he  answered  that,  having 
regard  to  philosophy,  which  was  his  profession,  he  had  not 
laboured  much  in  theology.  With  regard  to  his  esteem 
for  theologians,  he  appeals  to  his  works,  in  which  he 


2^0 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


had  handled  Catholic  theologians  with  great  respect;1 
more  particularly  St.  Thomas,2 3  “ whose  works  I have 
always  by  me,  continually  reading,  learning,  and  approv- 
ing them.”  He  admits  his  study  of  heretic  theologians, 
but  asserts  that  he  despises  them  and  their  works,  “ for 
they  are  not  theologians,  but  pedants ; and  I have  read 
their  books  from  curiosity,  not  from  desire  to  learn  their 
doctrine ; for  I hold  them  to  be  more  ignorant  than 
myself.” 

To  the  question,  “ What  things  are  necessary  to 
salvation  ? ” he  gives  the  answer,  “ Faith,  hope,  and 
charity.”  Being  asked  if  he  had  said  that  the  miracles 
of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  were  miracles  in  appearance 
only,  and  that  he  could  do  as  much  and  more,  so  that  all 
the  world  should  follow  him,  he  raised  both  hands 
aloft  and  cried,  “ What  thing  is  this  ? I have  never 
said  it,  nor  has  it  so  much  as  passed  through  my 
mind.” 

It  is  evident  from  the  tone  of  the  next  interrogation 
that  the  inquiry  caused  the  prisoner  to  manifest  distress, 
for  he  is  desired  by  the  Inquisitor  in  dignified  but  not 
unkind  terms  to  submit  to  these  questions,  since  the  Holy 
Office  is  aware  that  he  has  spent  much  time  in  heretic 
countries  and  has  had  dealings  with  many  heretics ; and 
in  addition,  the  Holy  Office  finds  it  easy  to  believe  that 
such  statements  are  not  incompatible  with  the  philosophy 
of  which  he  has  made  confession.  He  is  then  exhorted 
“ to  unburden  his  conscience  and  to  tell  the  truth,  and 


1 He  insists  upon  (W.  i.  27)  tlie 
friendliness  which  should  subsist 

“between  learned  theologians  and 
learned  philosophers  ; ” and  in 
numerous  other  passages  the  same 
views  are  advanced. 

3 Although  deprived  of  his  papers 
byMocenigo,  Bruno  must  have  been 
permitted  access  to  them,  or  he  could 
scarcely  quote  the  passages  neces- 
sary for  his  defence.  He  appeals, 
for  instance,  to  page  89  of  his  book 


on  the  Monad  to  prove  his  high 
esteem  for  Thomas  Aquinas,  the 
Angelic  Doctor,  whom  he  calls 
(note  to  page  6)  “ the  honour  and 
the  light  of  all  and  every  sort  of 
theology,  and  in  especial  of  the  peri- 
patetic philosophy.”  And  he  also 
mentions  a passage  on  page  19  of 
the  Infinity  supporting  the  doctrine 
of  good  w'orks  as  taught  by  the 
Catholic  Church. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE , 1592.  281 

to  expect  that  the  tribunal  will  extend  to  him  every  sort 
of  kindness  possible,  necessary,  and  expedient  for  the  sal- 
vation of  his  soul.” 

The  peril  in  which  he  stood  seems  at  last  to  have 
dawned  upon  this  undaunted  spirit.  “ As  God  shall 
pardon  me  my  sins,  so  I have  spoken  truth  in  all  things ; 
but  for  my  greater  satisfaction,  I will  once  more  con- 
sider my  life,  and  if  I have  said  or  done  anything  against 
the  Christian  and  Catholic  faith,  I will  confess  it  openly ; 
and  I have  said  that  which  is  just  and  true,  and  will 
say  it.” 

Once  more,  on  the  4th  of  June  1592,  the  relation  of 
the  trial  having  been  read  over  to  him,  Bruno  was  ad- 
jured to  add  to  his  evidence,  or  to  take  from  it,  if  it  con- 
tained any  facts  which  he  was  unable  to  confirm.  To  this 
he  responded  that  he  had  nothing  to  add  and  nothing  to 
take  away,  and  that  he  confirmed  his  evidence  as  it 
stood. 

Three  weeks  elapsed  before  a further  hearing  took  place. 
On  the  23d  June,  Andrea  Morosini  was  called  upon  to 
give  his  evidence.  In  all  the  Italian  cities,  and  especially 
in  Venice,  men  of  learning  were  in  the  habit  of  congre- 
gating once  or  twice  a week  in  the  leading  houses  of  the 
town  to  discuss  such  questions  as  are  now  made  public 
in  the  press.  Two  of  these  gatherings  were  famous  in 
Venice : the  one  assembled  in  the  house  of  Bernardo 
Secchini,  a merchant,  at  the  sign  of  the  Golden  Ship  in 
the  Merceria ; the  other  was  held  by  Andrea  Morosini, 
the  historian,  living  in  the  division  of  San  Luca,  upon 
the  Grand  Canal.  “ He  was  sought  out,”  says  the 
anonymous  biographer  of  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  “ not  only  by 
men  of  letters  and  by  the  nobles,  but  by  every  man  of 
learning,  both  secular  and  religious,  native  not  only  to 
Venice  and  to  Italy,  but  to  every  other  nation.”  The 
evidence  of  this  distinguished  Venetian  is  short  and  to 
the  purpose.  Bruno,  having  been  brought  to  the  assem- 
bly by  means  of  the  librarian  Ciotto,  had  confined  himself 


202 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


to  reasoning  upon  philosophy,  and  Morosini  (perhaps  with 
as  much  regard  for  his  own  safety  as  for  that  of  the 
prisoner)  asserts  persistently  that  had  he  thought  Bruno 
other  than  a good  Catholic,  he  would  not  have  been  per- 
mitted to  enter  the  assembly  ; 1 adding,  that  his  reasoning 
was  always  upon  letters,  nor  was  it  on  any  occasion 
evident  that  he  professed  opinions  contrary  to  the  faith. 

The  librarian  Ciotto  is  next  recalled  in  order  to  confirm 
the  fact  that  Bruno  actually  intended  to  present  his  book 
on  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts  to  the  Pope,  and  thus  to  make 
his  peace  with  the  Church. 

This  disclosure,  however,  did  not  dispose  the  hearts  of 
the  Inquisitors  to  mercy. 

On  the  30th  July  Bruno  was  again  brought  before  his 
judges.  He  repeated  that  he  remained  by  his  evidence; 
that  he  had  already  negotiated  with  a Roman  nuncio  and 
with  a Jesuit  father  respecting  his  reconciliation  with  the 
Church,  and  that  it  was  his  sole  desire  to  be  permitted  to 
live  for  philosophy  and  to  be  free  from  the  monastic  rule. 
He  had  composed  a work  on  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts,2  which 
he  desired  to  present  as  a peace-offering  to  the  new  Pope, 
in  the  hope  of  leading  a studious  life  in  Rome.  He  re- 
pented of  all  he  had  done  wrong,  and  of  his  errors  in 
thought  and  in  teaching  ; he  would  for  the  future  abstain 
from  wrong-doing,  and  he  desired  to  comply  with  what 
might  be  judged  expedient  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 
He  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  convincing  the  Inquisitors 
that  he  had  always  felt  remorse  in  his  conscience  and 
desire  to  return  to  the  Church,  though  he  adds  frankly 
that  he  sought  to  avoid  the  bonds  of  regular  obedience, 
and  that  he  was  actuated  by  no  motives  “ except  fear  of 
the  rigour  of  the  Holy  Office  and  love  of  liberty.” 

He  repeated  his  declaration  that  he  was  sorry  for  what 


1 It  is  a fact  significant  of  the 
power  of  the  Inquisition  that  the 

history  of  Venice  written  by  Moro- 
sini preserves  silence  regarding  the 
trial  and  death  of  Bruno. 


2 The  Seven  Liberal  Arts  compre- 
hended the  Trivium  and  the  Quad- 
rivium:  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dia- 
lectics ; arithmetic,  mathematics, 
astronomy,  and  music. 


THE  TRIAL  IN  VENICE,  ijg2.  283 

he  had  done  wrong,  and  for  what  he  had  thought  or 
taught  falsely ; that  he  would  follow  all  things  necessary 
for  the  salvation  of  his  soul ; if  he  had  given  scandal,  he 
would  atone  for  it  by  the  life  he  intended  to  lead  in 
future.  This  has  been  called  a recantation,  but — as  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Professor  Carriere  in  his  appreciative 
notice  of  the  trial — it  is,  in  truth,  no  more  than  an  en- 
treaty for  pity  and  pardon,  which  might  occur  to  any 
Christian  man  in  extremity,  and  which  might  be  repeated 
by  any  thinker  without  implying  that  he  had  abated  or 
retracted  a single  conviction. 


( 284  ) 


CHAPTER  XI. 


“ Touch  me,  0 God,  and  I shall  he  as  it  were  a flame  of  fire.” 

Bruno,  Hymn  to  his  own  Soul. 


The  Trial  at  Rome.  The  Death  of  Bruno. 

The  records  of  Bruno’s  trial,  together  with  his  books  and 
manuscripts,  were  at  once  despatched  to  Rome,  in  defer- 
ence to  the  oi’ders  of  the  Tribunal  in  the  Papal  city, 
which  was  extremely  jealous  in  exercising  the  supreme 
authority.  Application  was  then  made,  on  the  1 7th 
September  1592,  by  Cardinal  di  San  Severina,  in  the 
name  of  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office  at 
Rome,  for  the  delivering  up  of  Giordano  Bruno  to  the 
Governor  of  Ancona.  Here,  however,  difficulties  arose. 
The  Italian  states  were  involved  in  innumerable  quarrels 
with  the  court  of  Rome ; and  Venice,  though  prudent  and 
pliant  to  a fault  in  matters  temporal,  felt  herself  bound 
to  offer  a check  to  all  spiritual  aggressions.  Moreover, 
Rome  had  been  sacked  and  Florence  conquered,  but 
Venice,  having  preserved  her  independence,  prided  herself 
on  being  regarded  by  all  as  a city  of  refuge.  Men  of 
letters  from  Rome,  patriots  from  Florence,  and  fugitives 
on  religious  questions  flocked  to  the  protection  of  the 
Republic  when  the  gates  of  their  native  city  were  closed 
upon  them  for  ever.  The  quarrel  between  the  two  cities 
was  exasperated  by  the  conduct  of  the  officers  employed 
upon  the  Index,  who,  enjoying  the  profits  of  Roman 
printing-offices,  took  care  to  place  as  many  publications 


ROME,  1592. 


285 


of  their  neighbours  under  interdict  as  possible.  The 
large  trade  of  the  Venetian  booksellers  was  crippled  by 
this  jealous  and  unjust  supervision  ; and  a thousand  other 
small  differences  arose  to  make  the  relation  between  the 
two  states  one  of  hatred  and  constraint.  The  Pope  de- 
manded that  all  spiritual  offenders  should  be  delivered  up 
to  him ; the  officers  of  the  Republic  answered  that  they 
would  not  yield  one  hair’s-breadth  from  the  fundamental 
laws  of  their  state,  which  had  been  handed  down  to  them 
by  their  ancestors,  and  which  it  was  the  sacred  duty  of 
the  Republic  to  keep  inviolate. 

Accordingly  it  was  not  until  eleven  days  later  that  the 
application  of  Cardinal  San  Severina  was  conveyed  by  the 
Venetian  members  of  the  Tribunal  to  the  Doge,  and  by 
him  remitted  for  further  consideration.  A second  visit 
from  the  Father  Inquisitor  to  the  secular  authorities 
elicited  the  reply  that  the  matter  was  of  moment  and 
demanded  consideration ; that  the  occupations  of  this 
state  were  many  and  grave ; that  the  Savii  could  not 
as  yet  arrive  at  a resolution ; concluding  with  a sig- 
nificant recommendation  to  his  Reverence  to  dismiss  a 
boat  in  waiting  at  Ancona  to  convey  the  prisoner  to 
Rome. 

It  is  possible  that  Bruno’s  promise  of  amendment  and 
his  longing  for  reconciliation  with  the  Church  might 
have  availed  towards  sparing  a life  devoted  to  learning, 
which  was  always  dear  to  Venice,  had  the  Republic  re- 
mained staunch  to  its  first  decision  of  giving  him  trial 
within  Venetian  precincts.  But  this  was  not  to  be. 
The  jealousy  between  Rome  and  Venice  was  running 
high,  and  a serious  rupture  might  be  looked  for  at  any 
moment.  Under  these  circumstances  a policy  of  con- 
ciliation involving  no  large  sacrifice  was  naturally  wel- 
come to  the  Republic,  which,  like  a coquette,  played 
with  the  surrender,  making  much  ado  to  relinquish  that 
which  in  reality  cost  her  nothing,  and  astutely  propos- 
ing later  in  the  political  game  to  appeal  to  her  own 


2S6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


sacrifices  in  order  to  extort  as  much  and  more  from 
her  rival. 

The  next  step  was  to  procure  the  assistance  of  the  law. 
Ferigo  Contarini,  a procurator,  was  consulted  as  to  the 
propriety  of  yielding  up  Bruno  to  the  Church,  and  he 
gave  the  advice  required.  “ His  errors,”  said  this  officer 
of  the  law, — “ His  errors  in  heresy  are  very  grave,  though 
for  the  rest  he  possesses  a most  excellent  rare  mind,  with 
exquisite  learning  and  wisdom.” 

The  lawyer  finds  in  the  following  terms  : “ That  this 
friar  was  a foreigner  and  no  subject,  and  was  not,  there- 
fore, entitled  to  the  protection  of  Venice ; that  he  was 
first  accused  and  detained  at  Naples  for  a grievous  trans- 
gression in  heresy ; that  having  escaped  and  fled  to 
Rome,  he  was  there  tried  and  imprisoned  for  the  same  and 
other  offences : and  that  his  trial  having  been  begun  in 
Naples  and  in  Borne  some  seventeen  years  earlier,  ought 
in  justice  to  be  brought  to  a termination  in  those  domi- 
nions.” 

The  next  count  in  the  indictment  sets  forth  that, 
escaping  again  a second  time  from  those  prisons,  he  sailed 
into  England,  “ where  he  lived  according  to  the  custom  of 
that  island ; ” after  which  he  is  pronounced  to  have  led 
“ a licentious  and  diabolical  life  in  heretic  countries;”  and 
“ finally,  leaving  Geneva,  he  came  to  Venice,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  house  of  a gentleman,  who,  to  acquit  himself 
of  his  duty  as  a Christian,  made  the  friar  known  to  the 
Holy  Tribunal.”  It  having  been  judged  expedient  that 
he  should  return  and  be  judged  where  he  had  first 
offended,  the  position  is  strengthened  by  the  unfounded 
assertion  that  he  had  “ prepared  a writing  by  which  it 
seems  he  will  be  pleased  to  be  remitted  to  the  justice  of 
Home.”  In  this  manner  Bruno’s  innocent  assertion  that 
he  desired  to  present  a book  to  the  Pope  and  to  make  his 
peace  with  Borne  was  twisted  into  an  admission  that  he 
had  appealed  to  the  Papal  tribunal.  It  was  therefore 
thought  proper,  “ in  order  to  satisfy  the  Pope,”  that  Bruno 


ROME,  1593. 


287 


should  be  delivered  up  to  Rome.  Like  St.  Paul,  he  had 
appealed  to  Caesar ; at  the  seat  of  Csesar  he  should  appear 
to  look  for  judgment.  The  lawyer’s  indictment  ends  with 
a characteristic  entreaty  that  his  evidence  may  be  kept  a 
profound  secret,  for  “ public  and  private  reasons  : ” and  he 
is  then  dismissed  by  the  Doge,  with  praises  for  care  and 
adroitness. 

The  decree  of  consent  is  carefully  worded.  Having 
regard  to  the  fact  that  the  case  was  extraordinary,  the 
accused  a Neapolitan  who  had  broken  loose  from  prison, 
and  who  had  to  undergo  his  trial  for  heresy  both  in 
Naples  and  in  Rome,  it  is  agreed  that,  in  order  to  please 
the  Pope,  Fra  Giordano  Bruno  shall  be  handed  over  to 
the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition  at  Rome.  That  all  the 
capital  possible  might  be  made  out  of  the  event,  the 
Venetian  ambassador  in  Rome  is  further  directed  to 
impress  upon  the  mind  of  his  Holiness  the  respectful 
filial  obedience  of  Venice,  and  the  readiness  of  the 
Republic  to  do  his  pleasure  in  this  matter.  The  decree 
is  dated  January  7,  1 5 9 3 -1 

On  the  1 6th  of  the  month  the  Pope  returned  such 
hearty  thanks  for  this  consent,  that  it  might  have  been 
a meritorious  action;  and  here  the  Venetian  trial  closes. 
Towards  the  middle  of  January  Bruno  was  given  up  to 
the  Papal  Nuncio  in  Venice.  On  the  27th  February 
I 5 9 3 he  entered  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition  in  Rome  ; 
and  we  approach  the  period  of  darkness  in  which  the 
remainder  of  his  life  was  passed.  There  is  nothing  to  tell 
us  of  with  what  hopes  and  fears  the  prisoner  quitted 
the  Venetian  piombi,  in  which  he  had  spent  eight  months, 
in  order  to  make  his  journey  to  Rome  under  safe  convoy. 
We  may  believe  his  statement  that  he  was  not  afraid  of 
the  Inquisition,  to  which  he  had  given  no  offence  ; and 
we  may  also  believe  that  he  took  courage,  and  hoped  for 

1 It  was  signed  by  the  same  Doge,  professorship  of  mathematics  at 
Pasquale  Cicogna,  who  some  months  Padua, 
before  had  appointed  Galileo  to  the 


288 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


justice  from  the  Pope,  trusting  to  move  him  to  pardon 
more  easily  than  the  Venetian  inquisitors,  and  looking 
for  recognition  as  a philosopher  who  esteemed  the  light 
of  reason  to  be  on  a par  with  the  light  of  faith.  He  may 
have  hoped,  too,  that  his  learning  and  goodwill  might  save 
him,  since  he  had  long  determined  to  go  of  his  own  free- 
will to  Rome,  and  to  make  his  peace  with  the  Church. 
But  it  would  be  an  act  of  injustice  to  imagine  that  he  was 
actuated  by  hypocrisy  or  base  desire  of  denial. 

Convinced  that  it  was  the  unceasing  labour  of  philo- 
sophy to  raise  the  mind  of  man  to  God  by  bending  all 
the  forces  into  the  pursuit  of  wisdom,  he  was  unable 
to  realise  that  the  Church  was  more  chary  in  tolerance 
than  himself.  He  looked  with  sorrow  upon  his  rupture 
with  Rome,  and  welcomed  any  means  of  reconciliation 
which  did  not  bring  him  under  the  yoke  of  monkish 
tyranny.  It  is  clear  from  his  history  that  no  form  of 
Protestantism  was  agreeable  to  him ; he  embraced  no 
other  religion,  nor  did  he  love  any  so  well  as  the 
Church  in  which  he  was  nurtured.  The  speeches  at 
Wittenberg  and  in  Helmstedt,  in  which  he  pronounced  a 
panegyric  upon  Luther,  were  dictated  by  the  gaiety  of 
rhetoric,  and  were  not  the  mature  and  deliberate  utter- 
ances of  the  philosopher.  The  basis  of  evangelic  teach- 
ing, that  Heaven  is  to  be  won  by  faith  instead  of  by 
works,  he  invariably  combated  with  asperity.  In  the  same 
manner,  his  desire  for  reform  must  not  be  construed  as  an 
attack  upon  the  Church  ; for  he  is  completely  j ustified 
when  saying  that  in  no  part  of  his  works  had  he  expressly 
censured  any  Catholic  dogma.  He  no  longer  approved 
certain  of  his  writings,  as  he  said  at  his  trial ; but  he  had 
examples  and  to  spare  before  his  eyes  showing  that  a mea- 
sure of  freedom  in  philosophic  thought  was  allowed  even 
in  the  Church  so  long  as  her  specific  teaching  was  not 
directly  attacked. 

On  entering  life  he  had  to  reckon  with  it,  and  the 
struggle  continued  to  the  end.  What  consolation  he  drew 


ROME,  1599. 


289 


from  the  fact  that  in  running  counter  to  all  prejudice  he 
was  following  the  dictates  of  that  “ high  spirit  which 
whispered  in  his  inward  ear  ” will  never  now  be  known. 
Of  a restless  and  passionate  spirit,  loving  life  and  the 
society  of  men,  in  the  flower  of  his  age  and  full  vigour 
of  mind,  he  was  suddenly  separated  from  all  human  com- 
panionship. 

He,  however,  who  looked  steadily  through  the  gates  of 
death  upon  the  hope  of  immortality,  was  not  curbed  or 
humbled,  though  a prisoner  in  a cell  to  be  exchanged  for 
one  yet  narrower,  without  books,  deprived  of  pen  and 
paper,  with  all  wonted  solace  of  society  and  occupation 
gone.  The  Pope  no  doubt  extended  the  term  of  his 
imprisonment  to  an  unusual  length  in  the  hope  of  break- 
ing his  spirit  and  of  avoiding  the  scandal  attending  the 
execution  of  a monk.  It  was  not  until  January  14, 
1 599,  that  eight  heresies  propounded  in  the  works  of  the 
unfortunate  philosopher,  and  extracted  from  his  evidence 
at  his  trial,  were  laid  before  the  Congregation  of  the  In- 
quisition by  a commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  the 
case,  and  it  was  resolved  that  they  should  be  communi- 
cated to  the  prisoner  in  order  that  he  might  consider 
whether  he  would  abjure  them  as  heresies. 

It  is  remarkable  that  although  Bruno  had  spent  six 
years  almost  to  a day  in  Home,  this  document  is  worded 
as  though  his  formal  trial  had  only  then  begun.  Scioppius, 
whose  relations  with  Cardinal  Madrucci  were  close  and 
intimate,  believed  Bruno  to  have  been  in  prison  two  years 
only.  Every  trace  of  information  fails  from  the  beginning 
of  I 593  to  the  beginning  of  1599.  Year  by  year  passed 
by ; no  sentence  was  delivered ; nor  is  it  apparent  that 
the  choice  between  abj  uring  and  death  by  fire  was  offered 
to  the  prisoner.  This  long  suffering  on  the  part  of  the 
Holy  Office  is  without  precedent. 

Bruno’s  name  is  first  on  a list  of  twenty  fellow-sufferers 
made  on  Monday,  April  5,  1599.  The  greater  number 
remained  in  confinement  only  a few  months ; one  alone 

T 


290 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


remained  more  than  nine  months ; for  it  was  the  custom 
of  the  Holy  Office  in  serious  cases  to  administer  speedy 
justice.  If  the  doctrines  held  by  the  Church  to  be 
heretical  were  only  indicated  to  Bruno  in  15 99,  how  had 
he  been  treated  in  the  sis  long  years  that  had  passed  ? 
To  test  his  printed  works  and  his  manuscripts,  and  to 
question  and  re-question  him  on  all  points  of  dissent  from 
the  Church,  could  scarcely  occupy  sis  years  unless  matters 
were  purposely  deferred. 

The  Congregation  of  the  Roman  Inquisition,  in  whose 
hands  the  fate  of  Bruno  lay,  consisted  of  “ Cardinals  Mad- 
rucci  Ludovico,  Santorio  Giulio  Antonio  (San  Severina), 
Deza  Pietro,  Pinelli  Domenico,  Berneri  Girolamo,  Sfon- 
drati  Paolo  Emilio,  Borghese  Camillo,  and  Arigoni  Pompeo, 
assisted  by  their  counsellors  Dandini,  Beccaria,  Millini, 
Fragagliolo,  Bellarmine,  Filonardo,  Monterenzi,  and  Fla- 
minio  Adriani,  the  notary.” 

In  the  absence  of  the  full  records  of  the  trial,  now 
preserved  in  Rome,  it  is  impossible  to  denote  the  heresies 
which  Bruno  was  called  upon  to  abj  ure ; but  that  they 
were  not  altogether  founded  on  the  accusations  of  Mo- 
cenigo  is  clear  from  the  examination  in  Venice,  where  it 
appears  that  the  Inquisition  scarcely  thought  it  worth 
while  to  notice  a great  part  of  the  charge,  although  in 
the  recapitulation  of  the  trial  by  Scioppius  he  repeats 
part  of  the  denunciation  word  for  word,  and  it  must, 
therefore,  have  been  read  over  in  the  final  scene  of  the 
trial.  The  accusations  were  probably  based  on  the  pri- 
soner’s unsoundness  in  the  matter  of  the  Trinity,  with  his 
impenitent  and  stubborn  determination  to  place  philo- 
sophy on  the  same  footing  with  theology. 

The  charge  was  then  submitted  to  the  prisoner,  who 
was  no  doubt  once  more  directed  to  probe  his  con- 
science and  to  discover  what  further  evils  he  had  to  admit. 
His  position,  however,  was  unchanged.  “ All  matters,” 
he  says,  in  what  Hennequin  called  “ the  justificatory 
harangue,”  pronounced  in  Paris, — “ All  matters  concerning 


THE  THREE-HEADED  MONSTER: 


291 


civil  and  religious  law  should  be  divided  from  matters 
belonging  to  pure  science  and  cosmology ; ” and  with 
singularly  characteristic  affection  he  appealed  to  his 
hope  of  a union  with  religion,  dwelling  continually  on 
the  then  baseless  fabric  of  reconciliation  between  the 
opposing  powers  of  theology  and  philosophy.  When  he 
put  off  the  habit  of  a monk  in  Rome,  he  had  kept  his 
scapulary.  He  had  attended  the  confessional  of  a Jesuit 
priest  at  Toulouse  when  he  might  have  been  supposed  to 
be  indifferent  to  the  sacraments,  and  he  had  declared  his 
belief  in  tran  substantiation  when  in  the  same  breath 
frankly  avowing  to  his  judges  that,  philosophically  speak- 
ing, he  could  not  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  In 
every  age  men  have  loved  to  avenge  their  God  better  than 
to  forgive  their  enemies,  and  Bruno  had  little  mercy  to 
expect  from  the  fang  of  the  “ravening  wolf”  which  he 
had  publicly  apostrophised  as  having  its  seat  in  Rome  ; 
while  his  offer  of  dedicating  a book  to  the  Pope  was  but 
a sop  to  the  “ three-headed  monster,”  so  stigmatised  by  the 
philosopher  in  Wittenberg.  Rome  itself  was  suffering 
from  a dual  control.  The  people  were  ranged  on  one 
side,  religious  authority  was  on  the  other.  “ The  nearer 
a nation  is  to  Rome,”  Machiavelli  wrote  in  1500,  “the 
more  impious  are  the  people  ; ” and  in  truth  Rome  coveted 
no  title  to  Christianity  so  much  as  to  be  called  the  capital 
of  the  republic  of  letters  (W.  ii.  164).  The  Romans 
were  without  respect  for  their  most  sacred  institutions. 
Before  the  breath  was  out  of  the  body  of  Paul  IV.,  the 
people  had  risen  like  one  man.  They  broke  open  the 
prisons  of  the  Inquisition,  burnt  the  house  of  the  Grand 
Inquisitor,  who  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  and  to  show 
their  hatred  of  their  master  they  tore  down  the  escutcheons 
of  his  arms  from  the  public  edifices,  and  seizing  his  statue, 
they  broke  it  into  pieces,  and  rolled  his  head  into  the 
Tiber,  amid  the  groans  and  curses  of  the  bystanders.  Nor 
was  the  example  of  those  high  in  authority  likely  to  lead 
to  better  results  on  the  part  of  the  people. 


292 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


Sixtus  Y.  saw  the  soul  of  Pope  Gregory  in  a dream 
enduring  the  torments  of  hell ; and,  in  what  has  been  called 
by  Rabelais,  “the  most  monkish  city  of  all  monkery,”  it 
was  once  the  custom,  according  to  Montaigne,  for  the  Rope, 
when  at  mass  in  St.  Peter’s,  to  drink  from  the  chalice  by 
means  of  an  instrument  which  was  a precaution  against 
poison ; while  to  this  day  the  vicegerent  of  God  is  be- 
lieved by  the  Romans  to  possess  the  evil  eye. 

“ The  Court  of  Rome,”  writes  Cardinal  D’Ossat  ( Letters , 
tom.  v.  p.  2 2,  Amsterdam,  1 708),  “ is  a school  of  dissimu- 
lation.” “ If,”  said  Casaubon  in  reply  to  Scioppius,  who 
had  called  him  an  atheist, — “ If  I were  an  atheist  I should 
now  be  at  Rome,  whither  I have  been  often  invited.” 

The  then  occupant  of  the  pontifical  throne,  Ippolito 
Aldobrandini,  had  assumed  the  name  of  Clement  VIII. 
Born  in  exile,  the  son  of  a homeless  fugitive,  he  was  early 
schooled  by  the  excellent  uses  of  adversity,  and  turned  the 
rising  fortunes  of  four  clever  and  distinguished  brothers 
to  such  advantage,  that  he  ascended  the  chair  in  the  full 
vigour  of  life.  He  had  scope  to  exercise  his  talents 
in  controversy,  for  a quarrel  having  broken  out  between 
the  Dominicans  and  the  Jesuits  on  the  question  of  free- 
will, appeal  was  made  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  the 
qualities  which  had  been  turned  to  such  excellent  account 
in  the  conversion  of  Henry  IV.  of  France  were  once 
more  in  requisition  to  bind  up  the  wounds  which  were 
lacerating  the  fair  estate  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Courageous  and  far-sighted,  he  did  not  turn  aside  the 
influence  of  the  Papacy  to  his  own  selfish  purposes,  nor, 
by  exalting  himself  above  the  law,  set  the  first  example 
of  breaking  it ; but  perceiving  that  the  moment  had 
arrived  for  the  Pope  to  identify  himself  with  his  sacred 
office,  his  personal  inclinations  and  advantage  were  forced 
into  compliance  with  the  spirit  of  the  times  ; and  since 
human  institutions  are  strong  only  so  long  as  they  and 
the  living  possessors  of  power  are  in  harmony,  the 
power  of  the  Papacy  was  greatly  enhanced  in  the  posses- 


THE  INQUISITION. 


293 


sion  of  a Pope  whose  sole  intention  was  to  efface  himself 
in  his  pontificate,  and  to  assume  a demeanour  befitting 
the  ideal  head  of  the  Church.  Under  the  sway  of  this 
prudent  and  politic  ruler  the  Papacy  gradually  rose  to 
the  high  and  holy  offices  of  peace  and  mediation  among 
nations.  But  the  Inquisition,  in  which,  with  blood  for 
cement,  union  between  the  children  of  the  faith  was  ini- 
tiated, received  no  check  at  the  hands  of  Clement  VIII. 

The  ancient  Dominican  Inquisition  had  fallen  into 
decay,  but  out  of  its  ashes  sprang  the  wonted  fires  of  per- 
secution, and  under  the  sway  of  Caraffa  in  Spain  the 
lagging  genius  of  terrorism  was  not  suffered  to  go  astray, 
but  was  even  directed  upon  the  capital  of  Christendom. 
<c  As  it  was  in  Rome,”  says  Caraffa,  “ that  St.  Peter  over- 
came the  first  heresiarchs,  so  must  the  followers  of  Peter 
subdue  all  the  heresies  of  the  world  in  Rome.”  The  founder 
of  the  Jesuits  supported  this  proposition  by  an  express 
memorial  to  the  Cardinal  Inquisitors.  Authority  was  given 
to  them  over  every  individual,  without  any  exception,  and 
without  regard  to  any  rank  or  dignity.  They  had  full 
power  to  imprison  the  suspected,  and  to  punish  the  guilty 
with  death  and  confiscation.  But,  like  the  Abbot  of  Battle, 
who,  says  Fuller,  “ carried  a pardon  in  his  presence,” 
the  Pope  had  the  right  of  remitting  capital  punishment, 
though  this  right  was  accorded  to  no  other  human  being. 
The  Inquisitors  had  a mission  “ to  contrive  and  to  execute 
everything  that  could  tend  to  suppress  the  errors  that 
had  broken  out  in  the  Christian  community,  and  to  pluck 
them  up  by  the  roots ; ” and  the  Society  looked  with  a 
jealous  eye  upon  the  privileges  of  their  order.  Strong 
bolts  and  locks,  with  dungeons,  chains,  and  bonds,  and  all 
the  hideous  appliances  of  the  Tribunal,  set  a guard  upon 
the  lambs  in  the  fold,  and  marked  the  fearful  office  of  the 
potentates  who,  calling  themselves  messengers  from  the 
God  of  Love,  had  had  the  assumption  to  copy  the  mien 
of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

Persecution  and  terror  now  broke  out  in  Italy  on  every 


-9\ 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


side.  The  mutual  hatred  of  factions  came  in  aid  of  the 
Inquisitors.  Denunciations  mounted  up  ; and  disappear- 
ance, as  deadly  as  the  stroke  of  doom,  followed  upon  each 
denunciation.  “ It  is  hardly  possible,”  exclaims  Antonio 
dei  Pagliarici,  “ for  a man  to  be  a Christian  and  to  die 
in  his  bed.” 

The  Tribunal  of  the  Roman  Inquisition  comprised  a 
Congregation  of  cardinals  under  the  personal  leadership  of 
the  Pope.  That  part  of  the  terrible  body  before  which 
Bruno  was  condemned  to  appear  consisted  of  fifteen  mem- 
bers and  a notary.  Of  these,  Madrucci  was  Inquisitor- 
in-chief,  and  next  to  him  in  influence  stood  San  Severina. 
Of  all  the  cardinals,  Santorio,  who  had  the  title  of  San 
Severina,  might  be  regarded  as  the  most  zealous  Catholic. 
Even  in  his  youth  he  had  fought  out  many  a battle  with 
the  Protestants  at  Naples.  In  his  autobiography,  which  is 
extant  in  MS.,  he  speaks  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew as  “ the  celebrated  day  of  St.  Bartholomew,  most 
joyful  to  the  Catholics.”  He  had  always  professed  violent 
opinions,  and  he  had  long  been  the  soul  of  the  Inquisition. 

Not  the  least  inflexible  of  this  stern  assembly,  nor  the 
least  distinguished  in  learning,  was  the  litigious  Cardinal 
Bellarmine.  It  was  he  who  said  that,  as  the  spirit  guides 
and  governs  the  flesh  and  not  the  flesh  the  spirit,  so  the 
secular  power  should  not  dare  to  exalt  itself  above  the 
spiritual,  or  attempt  to  guide,  to  order,  or  to  restrain  it, 
since  it  was  absurd  for  the  sheep  to  attempt  to  guide  the 
shepherd.  "With  due  regard  also  to  the  temporal  com- 
forts of  the  shepherd,  Bellarmine  maintained  that,  as 
belonging  to  the  family  of  Christ,  the  priest  should  be 
exempt  from  all  burdens  on  person  and  property.  Such 
was  the  uncompromising  and  hostile  figure  to  whom 
Bruno’s  case  in  its  legal  aspect  was  intrusted.  As  the 
contriver  of  numberless  controversial  works,  and  the 
writer  of  an  enormous  book  in  folio  upon  the  heresies  1 

1 With  the  discretion  for  which  the  trial  of  Bruno  is  passed  over  by 
the  Roman  Church  is  remarkable,  these  volumes  in  silence. 


BRUNO  NOT  AN  APOSTATE. 


295 


of  his  time,  he  was  entitled  to  judge  a case  of  pure  error 
in  faith,  and  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  cause  of  the 
Church  lost  nothing  in  his  hands. 

To  Clement  VIII.  the  logical  error  of  punishing  spiritual 
offences  by  bodily  pains  was  not  apparent.  The  monk 
who  had  abandoned  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic  was  an 
apostate  ; but  in  order  to  fall  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Holy  Office  he  ought  to  have  been  proved  not  an 
apostate  as  a monk  alone,  but  as  a Catholic.  This 
fact  has  never  been  proved  against  Bruno.  Neither 
England,  Geneva,  nor  the  German  universities  can  claim 
him  as  a disciple  in  religion.  In  Marburg,  as  in  Paris, 
he  did  not  relinquish  the  title  of  doctor  in  Roman 
theology.  He  never  ceased  to  cherish  the  hope  that  he 
might  be  reconciled  to  the  Church.  When  he  came  into 
collision  with  the  authorities  of  the  Inquisition,  with 
Aristotle  and  Ptolemy,  and  with  the  traditions  of  the 
schools,  he  proclaimed  before  those  who  looked  upon 
themselves  as  guardians  of  divine  truth  a belief  more 
spiritual  than  their  faith,  a God  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  eye  of  sense,  and  dwelling  in  a vaster  temple  than 
the  mind  of  man  had  hitherto  conceived.  He  believed 
in  the  reality  of  the  unseen,  in  the  existence  of  the 
unknown.  The  crystal  was  not  yet  discovered  with 
which  Galileo  searched  the  skies,  but,  like  Columbus, 
Bruno  proclaimed  the  New  World  while  the  company  of 
men  laughed  him  to  scorn.  The  day  had  not  yet 
dawned  when  his  theories  were  to  become  demonstrations 
in  the  hands  of  Kepler,  Huygens,  Newton,  and  Herschel ; 
and  meanwhile,  because  he  proclaimed  the  movement  of 
the  earth  amid  countless  orbs,  which  are  flaming  heralds 
of  the  Almighty,  and  because  he  demanded  freedom  for 
the  spirit  of  man,  the  courageous  thinker  lay  under  the 
stigma  of  atheism.  “ Is  he,”  says  his  biographer  Bar- 
tholmess,  “ an  atheist  who  protests  unceasingly  against 
materialism,  or  who  considers  the  world  to  be  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God  ? who  declares  that  in  all 


2c;6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


things  there  dwells  an  individual  living  Unity,  a Presence 
perfect  and  beloved,  a Father  of  men  and  a Father  which 
is  in  heaven  ? Is  he  an  atheist  who  admits  a moral  law, 
and  who  perceives  in  the  whole  universe  the  presence 
of  a Legislator  whose  thoughts  appear  in  laws  beyond 
the  scope  of  our  finite  senses  ? Is  he  an  atheist  who 
looks  upon  the  world  and  sees  it  filled  to  overflowing 
with  causes  which  are  essential  and  unvarying  ? and  in 
the  fabric  of  the  stars,  as  in  the  action  of  the  mind,  per- 
ceives but  one  Source  and  Maker,  who  is  a Spirit  ? ” 

A second  decree,  dated  4th  February  1599,  followed 
quickly  upon  the  order  of  the  14th  January.  The 
assembly  which  was  once  more  called  upon  to  decide 
the  fate  of  Bruno  counted  among  its  members  a number 
of  cardinals,  with  Madrucci  and  San  Severina  again  at 
their  head,  and  among  others  Bellarmine  and  the  General 
of  the  Order  of  the  Dominicans,  Ippolita  Maria  Beccaria. 
The  Congregation  was  presided  over  by  the  Pope  in 
person,  by  whom  it  was  enacted  that  the  eight  heresies 
pointed  out  in  the  works  of  Bruno  by  Cardinal  Bellar- 
mine and  by  the  Father  Commissary,  should  be  acknow- 
ledged by  the  prisoner  as  heresies,  “and  not  as  heresies  now 
and  for  the  first  time  declared,  but  as  heresies  known  to 
the  Fathers,  to  the  Church,  and  to  the  Apostolic  chair, 
and  if  acknowledged,  good  ; if  not,  a further  term  of  forty 
days  should  be  granted.”  1 We  have  no  clue  to  Bruno’s 
demeanour  under  this  pressure.  It  was  used  to  move 
him  to  full  submission  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  and 
to  unconditional  surrender  of  his  philosophy.  A course 
of  advice  and  persuasion,  perhaps  even  of  torture,  was 


1 Hence  it  is  clear  that  the  pri- 
soner sheltered  himself  under  the 
plea  advanced  by  him  in  Venice, 
that  he  was  the  interpreter  of  dog- 
mas apiproved  by  the  Church,  and 
supported  by  her  oldest  and  soundest 
traditions.  His  appeals  to  the  autho- 
rity of  St.  Augustine  respecting  the 
persons  of  the  Trinity  were  no  doubt 
repeated  in  Rome.  Religion,  he  be- 


lieved, concealed  beneath  the  veil  of 
symbolism  the  truths  taught  by  phi- 
losophy ; and  he  thought  himself 
justified  in  following  closely  upon 
Cusa,  Lully,  the  Catalonian  monk, 
in  their  philosophic  rendering  of 
religious  dogmas,  while  expecting  to 
enjoy  the  liberty  accorded  to  car- 
dinals and  friars  in  more  ancient 
times. 


APPROACHING  MARTYRDOM. 


297 


administered  to  induce  him  to  recant,  and  thus  to 
avoid  the  scandal  of  condemning  as  a heretic  a priest  of 
the  Order  whose  pride  it  was  to  be  guardians  of  the  sheep- 
fold  and  “ dogs  of  the  Lord.”  How  the  Dominican  Order 
was  satisfied  to  represent  the  final  catastrophe  as  an  im- 
possibility was  proved  by  their  historian,  Echard,1  who 
asserts  that  the  Order  could  not  bring  forth  an  arch- 
heretic, as  though  Luther  were  not  an  Augustinian,  nor 
Ochino  a Capuchin. 

Bruno’s  final  refusal  to  admit  that  he  had  taught  or 
held  any  heresies  is  easy  to  understand,  since  he  believed 
himself,  as  a philosopher,  to  be  independent  of  the  dogmas 
of  the  Church ; and  since,  too,  he  held  that  a doctrine 
could  not  be  declared  a heresy  which  was  propounded 
from  a purely  philosophical  standpoint.  He  seems  to 
have  met  the  accusations  of  the  Congregation  with  manly 
candour,  and  to  have  sacrificed  to  the  immortal  spirit  all 
that  was  mortal  without  flinching.  The  treacherous 
thought  may  have  stolen  upon  him  that  he  was  suffering 
for  a mere  quibble ; and  out  of  the  wreckage  of  his 
philosophy  he  might  with  ease  have  fashioned  a spar  that, 
with  the  Pope’s  clemency,  would  have  saved  his  life. 
Had  he  permitted  himself  to  intimate  a doubt  upon  the 
rights  of  reason,  it  would  have  been  welcomed  with 
alacrity  by  those  who  desired  but  to  cause  him  to  return 
to  the  paths  of  salvation  and  to  see  him  partake  once 
more  in  the  means  of  grace. 

But  it  is  clear  that  Bruno  gave  no  sign  of  any  disposi- 
tion to  gratify  the  Congregation,  for,  as  a sheep  of  the 
fold,  they  must  have  preferred  to  grant  him  his  life  and 
to  set  him  at  liberty.  He  was  suffered  to  pine  in  prison 
for  seven  years,  and  in  all  details  we  are  restricted  to 
pure  conjecture,  for  the  acts  of  the  Inquisition  at  present 
forthcoming  do  not  reveal  any  trace  of  the  trial  beyond 

1 “Was  ever  a heretic  more  I infer  that  he  was  never  one  who 
severely  treated,”  he  writes,  “than  wore  our  habit.” 

Bruno  by  the  Dominicans  ? whence 


29S 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


the  record  of  the  decisions  of  the  Tribunal.  From  the 
letter  of  Scioppius  (Appendix)  it  appears  that  the  prisoner 
remaining  unmoved,  a second  term  of  forty  days  was 
granted ; 11  and  all  the  while  his  design  was  to  trifle  with 
the  Pope  and  the  Inquisition.”  On  the  same  authority 
he  is  made  to  recant  and  to  persist  in  a breath,  which 
was  scarcely  more  consistent  than  the  story  of  the  his- 
torian Ecliard. 

At  last,  on  the  2 1st  of  December  1599,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a visitation  made  to  the  prisoners  lying  in  the 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  the  answer  of  Bruno  is 
placed  on  record.  With  a spirit  not  broken  by  silence 
and  torture,  nor  by  hope  deferred,  and  being  more  weary 
of  delay  than  of  death,  he  said,  “ That  he  ought  not  to 
recant,  and  he  will  not  recant ; that  he  had  nothing  to 
recant,  nor  any  reason  to  recant,  nor  knew  what  he 
should  recant.” 

The  court  now  began  to  waver  in  the  hope  of  conquer- 
ing this  obdurate  heretic  and  of  sparing  the  open  scandal 
which  would  be  caused  by  his  execution.  Certain  officers 
were  told  off  to  make  a last  attempt  to  turn  him  from 
his  errors,  and  to  cause  him  to  abjure.  But  the  efforts 
of  the  General  of  the  Dominican  Order,  Ippolito  Maria 
Beccaria,  and  of  his  vicar,  Paul  di  Mirandola,  were 
steadfastly  repelled  by  the  prisoner,  who,  in  no  doubt 
as  to  what  must  be  the  result,  silently  awaited  his 
end. 

At  a session  presided  over  by  the  Pope  on  the  20th 
of  January  of  the  next  year,  the  General  reported  that 
Brother  Jordanus  had  made  no  recantation,  but  main- 
tained, on  the  contrary,  that  his  opinions  had  been  ill- 
interpreted  by  the  ministers  of  the  Holy  Office,  he  not 
professing  any  sort  of  heresy.  With  this  a memorial 
addressed  by  Bruno  to  the  Pope  was  received  and  opened, 
but  it  was  not  read;  and  on  the  same  day  (20th  January) 
the  Pope  decreed  that  the  prisoner  should  be  delivered 
over  to  the  temporal  power. 


THE  SECULAR  ARM. 


299 


On  the  8 th  February 1 the  Congregation  assembled 
once  more  in  the  palace  of  the  Chief  Inquisitor,  Cardinal 
Madrucci.  The  presence  of  the  Governor  of  Borne 
marked  the  sinister  intervention  of  the  temporal  power. 
Bruno  was  led  from  the  prison  in  Santa  Maria  della 
Minerva,  where,  scarcely  eighteen  years  before,  he  sought 
refuge  from  the  persecution  then  on  foot  against  him  in 
Naples,  and  he  was  conducted  into  the  presence  of  his 
judges,  where  he  heard  the  reading  of  his  sentence  on 
his  knees.  It  began  in  the  usual  form,  by  enumerating 
the  titles  of  the  cardinals  “ specially  commissioned  by  his 
Holiness  our  lord  Clement  VIII.  to  act  as  Inquisitors- 
General  against  heretical  pravity  throughout  the  whole  of 
Christendom.” 

The  history  of  his  life  and  the  tenor  of  his  studies  and 
doctrine  were  next  recounted,  and  what  diligence  the 
Inquisition  had  used  in  converting  and  fraternally  ad- 
monishing him,  and  with  what  pertinacity  and  impiety 
their  efforts  had  been  rejected  by  him.  He  was  then 
declared  an  apostate  from  the  Order  of  the  Preachers,  a 
heretic,  impenitent  and  pertinacious.  He  was  degraded  2 


1 The  documents  of  the  Inquisi- 

tion give  Tuesday,  February  8,  as 
the  day  on  which  sentence  was 
passed  and  Bruno  delivered  up  to 
the  temporal  power.  Scioppius  and 
the  Avvisi  di  Roma  agree  in  declar- 
ing the  day  to  have  been  Wednesday, 
February  9.  Carnesecehi  of  Florence, 
who  was  committed  to  the  flames  for 
“ obstinate  and  pertinacious  heresy  ” 
in  Rome  in  1567,  received  liis  sen- 
tence on  August  16,  1567,  and  on 
the  2 1st  September  the  sentence  was 
published  openly  before  the  people. 
Judgment  was  delivered  upon  Bruno 
probably,  therefore,  on  the  8th  of 
February,  and  on  the  9th  the  sen- 
tence was  published  in  the  venerable 
Church  of  the  Blessed  Mary  above 
the  Minerva.  In  the  Piazza  di 
Minerva  religious  executions  were 


formerly  held.  The  eastern  side  of 
the  . square  is  dominated  by  the 
church,  to  which  a convent  of  Do- 
minicans is  attached  ; and  on  this 
spot  it  was  the  custom  to  publish 
openly  before  the  people  sentences 
passed  by  the  Inquisition.  This 
solemn  proclamation  was  made  in 
the  presence  of  a court  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Holy  Office,  assisted 
by  the  secular  Governor  of  Rome. 

2 In  the  registry  of  the  expenses 
of  the  general  Pontifical  depository 
administered  by  Signor  Guiseppe 
Guistiani,  from  April  1,  1599,  to 
July  3,  1600,  the  following  entries 
occur  : — 

It  Veseovo  di  Tidomi  (Sidonia?), 
for  the  degradation  of  Brother 
Cipriano  dei  Cruciferi  . . 27  sendi. 

Giordano  Bmno,  heretic  . . 27  scudi. 


300 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


and  handed  over  to  the  secular  arm.  The  formal  sen- 
tence ran  thus  •} — 

“ Because  that  you.  a priest  and  nurtured  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  not  having  any  esteem  for  the  unspeak- 
able truth  of  the  Holy  Catholic  faith,  nor  any  reverence 
for  the  authority  of  the  Holy  and  Apostolic  Church  of 
Rome,  and  without  consideration  for  that  state  of  life 
into  which  you  were  called,  have  wandered  from  the 
straight  path  of  true  salvation  and  have  fallen  into  sun- 
dry heresies  contrary  to  the  said  holy  faith,  holding  and 
believing  many  various  heretical  and  unsound  opinions. 

. . . Wherefore  it  being  expedient  to  make  progress  and 
to  despatch  your  cause,  a certain  time  was  allotted  to  you 
for  making  every  preparation  possible  in  your  defence ; 
and  you  were  permitted  a copy  of  the  necessary  legal  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  time  allotted  to  you  was  prolonged. 
But  you  have  failed  to  bring  forward  any  plea  in  your 
defence  or  to  prove  that  your  first  confessions  made  before 
this  tribunal,  and  confirmed  by  abundant  evidence,  were 
in  any  particular  erroneous  or  false  ; and  after  your  cause 
had  been  brought  forward  and  investigated  in  our  General 
Congregation,  we,  being  anxious  to  show  compassion  to- 
ward you  (notwithstanding  the  clear  exhibition  of  your 
obduracy),  determined  on  proceeding  with  some  forbear- 
ance ; and  hence,  in  addition  to  the  repeated  warnings 
given  you  by  word  of  mouth  and  in  writing,  we  caused 
you  to  be  admonished  by  our  officials  once  or  twice  in  a 
general  manner,  and  that  other  definite  periods  should  be 
appointed  for  you  to  consider  and  reflect  upon  your  cause, 
and  to  make  such  amends  as  you  were  bound  to  render 
in  compliance  with  your  duty,  in  order  that  you  might  be 
received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Holy  Church,  provided 
that  you  should  say  and  solemnly  declare  that  you  were 

1 The  form  employed  by  the  offi-  lished  by  Dr.  Richard  Gibbings  in 
cials  of  the  Inquisition  in  pronounc-  Dublin  in  1856.  See  also  Masini, 
ing  sentence  will  be  found  in  a Sacro  Arsenale  o Fraction  del  Sant' 
highly  interesting  edition  of  the  Offizio,  as  quoted  by  Berti  in  his 
MS.  trial  of  Pietro  Carnesecclii,  pub-  Life  of  Bruno,  pp.  291,  292. 


THE  SENTENCE. 


301 


willing  to  refer  yourself  to  the  judgment  and  decision  of 
his  Holiness  and  of  us.  . . . And  it  appearing  to  be  now 
no  longer  the  time  for  delaying  the  despatch  of  this 
affair ; We, — having  fully  examined  and  deliberated  011 
the  testimony  you  have  given,  and  the  legal  procedure 
and  the  aforesaid  errors  and  heresies ; and  you  having 
first  been  summoned  at  the  suit  of  our  fiscal,  to  receive 
sentence,  this,  your  cause,  has  been  propounded  and 
scrutinised ; and  we,  paying  attention  to  the  powers 
committed  to  us  principally  by  our  lord  the  Pope  with 
reference  to  the  review  of  causes  belonging  to  our  tri- 
bunal, and  being  therefore  desirous  of  arriving  at  such 
a conclusion  as  justice  requires — having  invoked  the 
most  holy  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  of  the 
glorious  Virgin  Mary,  from  the  countenance  of  whom 
come  forth  right  judgments,  and  by  whom  the  eyes  of 
arbiters  behold  the  truth,  in  this  cause  and  these  causes 
pending  in  the  Holy  Office,  between  the  illustrious 
Master  on  the  one  side,  and  you  on  the  other  side,  who 
have  been  (distinctively)  arraigned  and  prosecuted,  and 
have  admitted  charges,  and  been  found  criminal, — by 
this  conclusive  sentence  which  we  issue  in  this  writ, 
Pronounce,  adjudge,  determine,  and  declare  that  you  have 
been  a heretic,  one  who  confided  in  heretics  and  who 
was  their  abettor  and  entertainer  severally,  and  that  you 
have  consequently  become  amenable  to  the  decisions, 
censures,  and  penalties,  legal  and  ecclesiastical,  imposed 
upon  such-like  offenders  by  the  sacred  canons,  laws,  and 
ordinances,  general  as  well  as  special.  And  having 
regard  to  obstinate  resistance  to  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  truth,  and  the  obduracy  manifested  by  you  in 
numerous  instances,  and  your  established  continuance  in 
errors,  and  intercourse  with  heretics,  and  your  hopeless 
depravity,  you  have  not  improved  nor  reformed  ; and  per- 
suaded that  for  these  reasons  the  Holy  Office  can  place 
no  further  confidence  in  you,  nor  have  any  assurance  that 
you  have  really  and  unfeignedly  repented,  nor  expect 


302 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


the  slightest  amendment  in  you.  On  this  account  we 
accordingly  declare  and  adjudge  that  you  are  an  impeni- 
tent heretic,  a dissembling  convert,  and  debased  ; and  that 
by  the  very  law  you  are  deprived  (and  so  far  as  it  is 
necessary,  we  deprive  you  anew)  of  every  rank,  privilege, 
and  eminent  position,  and  of  your  preferments,  emolu- 
ments, and  occupations,  spiritual  and  secular,  whatever 
they  may  be,  and  howsoever  designated  ; and  that  they 
have  ceased  to  be  enjoyed  by  you  from  the  date  of 
your  heresies,  and  that  thenceforward  you  were  in- 
capable of  obtaining  them.  And  we  condemn  you  to 
the  forfeiture  of  all  your  property,  personal  and  real,  and 
of  all  consequent  rights  and  claims  agreeable  to  the 
appointment  of  the  sacred  canons,  to  be  applied,  as  we 
do  apply  it,  to  the  purpose  to  which  it  should  be  justly 
assigned.  And,  as  one  irreclaimable,  without  remorse, 
we  in  like  manner  pronounce  and  ordain  that  you  ought 
to  be  degraded,  as  we  direct  that  you  be  actually  degraded 
from  the  orders  to  which  you  have  attained.  And  as  a per- 
son so  henceforward,  as  well  as  from  the  previous  time,  we 
expel  you  as  an  unprofitable  branch  from  our  ecclesiasti- 
cal court,  and  from  the  safeguard  of  our  Holy  Church  ; 
and  we  surrender  and  deliver  you  up  to  the  secular 
court,  that  is,  to  your  lordship  the  Governor  of  Rome, 
that  you  may  take  him  under  your  jurisdiction,  and  that 
he  may  be  subject  to  your  decision,  so  as  to  be  punished 
with  due  chastisement ; beseeching  you,  however,  as  we 
do  earnestly  beseech  you,  so  to  mitigate  the  severity  of 
your  sentence  with  respect  to  his  body,  that  there  may 
be  no  danger  either  of  death  or  of  shedding  of  blood. 
So  we  Cardinals,  Inquisitors  General,  whose  names  are 
written  beneath,  decree.” 

The  Inquisition  was  accustomed  to  vary  its  interroga- 
tions from  time  to  time,  without  permitting  the  accused 
to  read  over  his  replies,  which  were  submitted  to  persons 
skilled  in  comparing  evidence,  and  fresh  inquiries  were 
then  instituted  on  matters  which  seemed  to  open  out  the 


THE  SENTENCE. 


303 


discovery  of  new  criminals,  or  contradiction  and  evasion 
in  tlie  prisoner.  Nothing  points  to  the  conclusion  that 
Bruno  was  submitted  to  the  torture.1  “ Such  pro- 
ceedings,” writes  Bartholmess,  “ would  have  been  useless, 
since  there  was  no  doubt  whatever  on  the  ‘ intents.’  ” 

The  testimony  of  Scioppius  survives  to  show  in 
what  spirit  Bruno  received  the  judgment  of  the  Holy 
Office.  Cast  off  by  the  Church,  his  natural  anger  ex- 
hausted and  turned  to  patience  under  the  load  of  sorrow 
which  he  was  called  upon  to  bear — as  herbs,  when 
crushed,  are  made  to  yield  up  their  virtues — he  knew 
that  his  days  were  numbered,  and  he  did  not  quail  when 
the  soldiers  of  the  Governor  advanced  to  seize  him.  The 
vaults  of  the  Inquisition  opened  and  gave  up  their  prey, 
and  the  condemned  prisoner  passed  into  the  keeping  of 
the  law.  In  the  presence  of  that  august  assemblage  of 
spiritual  princes  and  theologians  stood  the  indomitable 
figure  of  the  philosopher,  unwearied  by  suffering  and 
degradation ; and  as  the  agony  of  death  began,  he  was 
called  upon  to  listen  to  the  hypocritical  words  in  which, 
when  the  wrath  of  the  Church  was  to  be  appeased  by 
punishment  by  fire,  she  required  the  temporal  power  to 
proceed  “ most  mercifully  and  without  shedding  of  blood.” 
The  prisoner,  hearing  this,  said  with  a menacing  aspect, 
“ It  may  be  you  fear  more  to  deliver  judgment  upon  me 
than  I fear  judgment.”  After  pronouncing  these  words 
he  was  led  away  from  the  judgment-hall,  vigilantly 
guarded  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Governor,  and  a final 


1 Campanella  writes  as  follows 
in  Ills  Atheismus  Triumphatus  : “I 
am  held  fast,  like  Prometheus  in 
Caucasus,  for  having  kindled  a 
torch.  I am  no  prophet  nor  worker 
of  miracles,  though  may  be  I see 
great  things  ; as  Balaam’s  ass  be- 
held the  angel  with  the  sword,  and 
her  master  gave  ear  to  her.  I have 
been  shut  in  fifty  prisons  ; seven 
times  I was  examined  under  the 
most  cruel  torture.  Forty  hours  I 


lay  lately  under  torment.  I was 
bound  with  cords  which  cut  to  my 
bones,  and  with  my  hands  tied  at 
my  back  I hung  upon  the  sharp 
edge  of  a log,  which  stripped  me  of 
a pound  and  a half  of  flesh,  while 
the  earth  swallowed  ten  pounds  of 
my  blood.  At  last  after  six  months 
by  the  grace  of  God  I recovered. 
I was  cast  into  an  underground 
dungeon.  I was  five  times  ques- 
tioned before  the  Tribunal.” 


3°4 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


attempt  was  made  to  induce  him  to  repent.  But  he  re- 
mained firm  and  his  faith  unshaken. 

The  action  of  the  Inquisition  was  short  and  sharp  ; and 
it  was  the  custom  to  allow  two  days  to  elapse  between 
passing  a sentence  and  its  execution.  Sometimes  the  term 
was  even  briefer,  but  it  was  never  extended  beyond  a week. 
If  in  this  interval  the  condemned  prisoner  gave  signs  of 
repentance,  his  lot  might  be  commuted  to  imprisonment 
for  life,  or  the  mercy  shown  him  might  be  restricted  to 
a change  in  the  mode  of  his  death.  Left  in  the  public 
prisons  entirely  alone,  unvisited  even  by  the  terrible 
officers  on  their  mission  of  conversion,  the  prisoner  was 
abandoned  to  his  own  thoughts.  Day  dawned  and  night 
fell  ; and  as  in  the  darkness  and  silence  hour  succeeded 
hour,  there  was  nothing  to  show  which  moment  would  be 
his  last.  In  that  still  and  solitary  cell  he  had  need  of  all  his 
philosophy,  and  of  that  “ height  of  perfection  ” which  he 
had  described  many  years  before  in  the  Expulsion  (W.  i. 
193).  “The  height  of  perfection  is  not  to  feel  fatigue 
and  sorrow  when  these  are  our  portion.”  Many  times 
he  had  reasoned  with  his  own  soul  on  the  likelihood  that 
death  would  be  the  result  of  his  opinions,  and  many  times 
he  had  assured  himself  that  when  death  came  he  would 
meet  it  bravely.  When  speaking  of  the  philosophers  of 
antiquity,  and  of  the  death  of  St.  Lawrence  by  fire,  Bruno 
inquires  of  himself  what  it  was  which  gave  these  men 
courage  to  endure  the  pangs  of  martyrdom.  “ There  are 
men,”  he  writes  (Gfr.  578,  579),  “in  whom  the  working 
of  the  will  of  God  is  so  powerful  that  neither  threats  nor 
contumely  can  cause  them  to  waver.  He  who  fears  for 
his  body  has  never  felt  himself  to  be  one  with  God.  He 
alone  is  truly  wise  and  virtuous  who  feels  no  pain ; and 
he  is  happy  (so  far  as  the  conditions  of  this  present  life 
admit)  who  regards  all  things  with  the  eye  of  reason.” 
Heaven,  with  its  tent  of  stars,  had  shaped  his  lonely 
course  in  life,  casting  a lustre  on  his  death  before  which 
his  funeral  fire  paled  and  became  ineffectual. 


THE  DEATH  OF  BRUNO. 


305 


At  the  time  of  the  trial  multitudes  of  pilgrims  from 
every  country  in  Christendom  were  met  in  Rome.  Nor 
were  the  flocks  unshepherded,  for  some  fifty  cardinals 
had  assembled  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  of  the  astute  Pope 
who  had  converted  Henry  IY.  of  France  to  Catholicism. 
The  Church  in  all  its  glory  was  mustered  to  do  honour  to 
its  chief,  and  as  Nero  with  his  court  mounted  guard  over 
burning  Christians,  the  ministers  of  peace  and  pardon 
were  summoned  to  watch  the  lingering  agony  of  the 
dying  philosopher.  On  the  17th  of  February,  clad  in  a 
san  benito  1 painted  with  flames  and  devils,  he  was  led  to 
the  stake  in  the  Campo  di  Flora,  that  place  of  execution 
of  which  he  had  spoken  in  London  as  a spot  frequented 
by  Roman  outcasts.  “ A herd  of  desperate  men  ” (W.  i. 
148),  “servants  disgraced  by  their  masters,  outlaws, 
pilgrims,  the  useless  and  the  idle,  from  those  who  have 
nothing  left  to  steal,  to  those  who,  but  newly  escaped 
from  prison,  are  bent  on  mischief  and  deceit,  and  on  a 
speedy  return  to  their  place  of  punishment,” — such  were 
the  wretched  beings  who  sought  refuge  in  this  quarter  of 
the  town  appropriate  to  executions.,  Near  the  senate- 
house  in  which  Caesar  received  his  death-blow  stand  two 
modern  theatres,  and  the  spot  has  often  echoed  with  the 
funeral  psalms  of  those  who  in  their  death  were  divided 
from  the  crowd  as  much  by  faith  as  by  a barrier  of  fire. 
The  cries  of  dying  heretics  were  sport  for  the  descendants 
of  a people  who  in  the  Campo  di  Flora  had  hailed  with 
applause  the  Ave  Caesar  of  the  dying  gladiators.  Stand- 
ing within  a stone’s-throw  of  the  Tiber,  the  ancient 
square,  which  now  resounds  with  the  homely  cries  of  the 
market-women,  was  once  within  earshot  of  the  actors  in 
Pompey’s  theatre ; while  the  Romans  turned  the  steps  of  the 
temple  of  Yenus  Yictrix  to  such  neighbourly  account,  that 
they  served  as  often  to  seat  the  spectators  at  a play  as  to 

1 Those  condemned  by  the  Inqui-  on  each  division  flames,  devils,  and 
sition  wore,  at  their  execution,  a a cross  of  St.  Andrew, 
sulphur-coloured  scapulary,  having 

U 


3°6 


GIORDANO  BRUNO. 


conduct  the  wandering  feet  of  the  people  to  their  devo- 
tions. “ And  now,”  in  the  words  of  Isaac  Walton,  “ he 
was  so  happy  as  to  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  die.”  And 
on  the  Campo  di  Flora  the  Nolan  philosopher  died  with- 
out a murmur,  as  bravely  as  he  had  lived,  refusing  to  listen 
to  the  priests  or  to  receive  any  consolation,1  and  saying 
in  his  last  moments  that  he  died  “ a martyr  and 
willingly ; ” 2 while  predicting  that  his  soul  should  ascend 
upon  that  smoke  to  Paradise.  His  ashes  were  then  given 
to  the  winds,  that  nothing  might  remain  of  him  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth  save  the  memory  of  his  execution,  of  his 
rare  constancy,  and  of  his  tragic  end,  which,  if  it  offered  no 
proof  of  the  truth  of  his  doctrines,  was  none  the  less  a dis- 
tinguishing mark  of  the  steadfastness  of  his  soul.  Many 
times  he  had  reasoned  with  himself  on  the  likelihood  that 
death  would  be  the  result  of  his  opinions,  and  many  times 
he  had  assured  himself  that  when  death  came  he  would 
meet  it  bravely.  “ For  I esteem,”  he  wrote  (W.  ii.  4), 
“ all  fame  and  all  victory  displeasing  to  God,  and  most 
vile  and  worthless  if  there  is  no  truth  in  them  ; and  for 
the  love  of  true  wisdom  and  learning  I am  full  of  weari- 
ness ; I am  crucified  and  tormented.”  In  London  he 
wrote  (W.  ii.  195),  “When  I am  in  trouble  and  in 
danger,  thou,  0 courage,  with  the  voice  of  thy  lively  per- 
suasion fail  not  to  murmur  within  my  ear  the  sentence, 
Tu  ne  cede  malis,  sed  contra  audentior  ito.”  The  fame 
and  honours  which  allure  vulgar  minds  to  him  were 
nothing.  His  life  was  a long  protest.  God  is,  God  is 
truth  ; and  that  truth  shines  forth  in  Nature,  which  is  his 
handiwork.  God  is,  and  all  is  in  God,  but  in  a manner 
befitting  his  perfection.  Infinity  is  within  the  evidence 
of  our  senses  ; it  is  proved  to  us  by  the  multiplicity  in 


1 Berti,  Documents,  p.  73. 

2 “ Diceva  die  moriva  martire  et 
volentieri."  Avvisi  di  Roma,  1600, 
19th  February.  He  is  said  by  the 
renegade  Scioppius  to  have  rejected 
“ with  a terrible  menacing  counten- 


ance ” a crucifix  which  was  held  up 
to  him,  and  which  may  have  been 
heated  red-hot,  as  was  customary, 
in  order  to  convince  the  spectators 
of  the  sufferer’s  impiety. 


THE  DEATH  OF  BRUNO. 


307 


figures  based  upon  unity ; and  shall  we  deny  infinity  to 
God  ? It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a theme  more  moving 
and  more  animated  than  this  which  inspires  the  words  of 
the  poet  and  philosopher.  The  most  inert,  the  most  in- 
sensible, and  the  most  minute  parts  of  the  earth  become 
in  his  hand  infused  with  energy  and  contrivance.  The 
whole  creation  shows  forth  the  glory  of  God;  it  is  vivified, 
spiritualised,  and  made  radiant  with  power  and  delight. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  seer  the  universe  is  ever  hymning  the 
praise  of  its  Maker,  living  and  rejoicing  with  a life  in- 
comparably fuller  than  the  life  of  man,  and  proclaiming 
its  glorious  mission  of  adoration  and  love.  By  the  way 
of  poetry  Bruno  became  a philosopher.  Love  of  art  made 
him  a lover  of  men  ; love  of  the  true  and  beautiful  made 
him  the  worshipper  of  God.  In  what  philosophy  does  the 
doctrine  of  the  soul  play  so  large  a part  ? Not  the  soul 
of  man  alone  dwells  in  God  ; but  the  soul  of  the  world  is 
in  him,  moves  in  him,  and  has  its  being  from  him.  The 
things  of  Nature  by  which  we  are  surrounded  are  shadows, 
unreal  and  not  abiding ; but  the  spirit,  the  soul,  the 
form,  the  act  of  the  divine  cognition,  the  substance  which 
no  human  eye  has  ever  seen,  the  Monad  which  can  never 
be  perceived  by  mortal  sense,  this  alone  is  real,  abiding, 
and  true ; this  was  before  the  worlds  were ; this  is  In- 
finity. To  perceive  it  is  the  only  true  knowledge ; to  be 
joined  with  it  is  the  only  true  happiness.  The  majesty 
and  immutability  of  God  dawn  upon  the  eye  of  man,  and, 
led  by  love,  the  great  revealer,  the  eager  human  spirit  is 
united  with  its  Giver.  If  this  assurance  should  penetrate 
the  heart  of  but  one  reader,  the  Nolan  will  not  have  died 
in  vain,  nor  will  the  humble  labours  of  his  biographer  be 
counted  as  nothing. 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  I. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


310 


Date. 

1582. 


1582. 


Title. 

Where  Printed. 

Jordanus  Brunus  Nolanus 
de  umbris  idearum  im- 
plicantibus  artem,  Quae- 
rendi,  Inveniendi,  Judi- 
candi,  Ordinandi  et  Ap- 
plicandi ; ad  internam 
scripturam  et  non  vul- 
gares  per  memoriam 
operationes  explicatis. 

Ad  Henricum  III.  Sere- 
niss : Gallorum  Polono- 
rumque  Begem,  etc.  Pro- 
testatio. 

Umbra  profunda  sumus, 
vA  nos  vexetis  inepti.  Non 
vos,  sed  dodos  tam  grave 
quaerit  opus. 

With  its  second  part  Ars 
Memorise  Jordani  Bruni. 

Parisiis  apud  iEgid. 
Gorbinum,  sub  in- 
signe  Spei,  e regione 
gymnasii  Camera- 
censis. 

Cum  privilegio  regis. 

Philothei  Jordani  Bruni 
Nolani  Cantus  Circseus, 
ad  earn  memoriae  praxim 
ordinatus  quam  ipse  judi- 
ciariam  appellat.  Ad 

Altissimum  Principem 
Henricum  d’Angoulesme, 
magnum  Galliorum  prio- 
rem,  in  provincia  regis 
locumtenentum,  etc. 

Parisiis  apud  iEgid- 
ium  Gillium  via  S. 
Joannis  Lateranen- 
sis  sub  trium  coron- 
arum  signo. 

THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


3” 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfrorer,  p.  285-412. 

The  Art  of  Lullus  applied  to  tbe 
Platonic  Idea,  and  to  its  shadow 

“ Jordanus  Bruns  No- 
lanus.  De  umbris 
Idearum.  Editionova 
curavit  Salvator  Tu- 
gini.  Berolini  (apud. 
E.  S.  Mittlerum  & 
filium,  bibliopolas 
curiae  Begis),  1868.” 

8 vo,  pp.  xxvi.  and  178, 
with  the  figures  from 
tbe  original. 

J.  Brunus.  Opera  La- 
tine  conscripta,  vol. 
ii.,  ISTeapoli  in  8,  p. 
257,  1886.  De  Um- 
bris  Idearum  Ars 
Memoriae,  Cantus  Ar- 
caeus. 

or  reflection  in  the  mind  of  man. 
In  this  work  and  the  follow- 
ing allusion  is  made  to  a Liber 
clavis  vicignce,  in  which  the  Art 
of  Memory  is  said  to  be  per- 
fected. Buhle  believes  it  to  be 
a work  by  Bruno ; it  has  com- 
pletely disappeared. 

The  second  part  or  continuation, 
Ars  Memoriae,  has  in  the  origi- 
nal no  separate  title,  though 
the  numbering  of  the  leaves 
(80)  begins  afresh.  Affixed  are 
three  short  chapters,  under  se- 
parate titles,  containing  enigmas 
and  paradigms  in  Latin  verse 
with  prose  illustrations.  They 
are  dedicated  to  King  Henry 
III.  of  France,  and  are  devoted 
to  Mnemonics. 

Gfrorer,  p.  179-234. 
J.  Brunus.  Opera  La- 
tine  Conscripta,  vol. 
ii.,  Neapoli,  1886. 

A work  on  the  Lullian  Art  of 
Memory. 

312 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 
1 582. 


I 582. 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


Philotlieus  Jordanus 
Brunus  Nolanus,  de  com- 
pendiosa  arcliitectura  et 
complemento  artis  Lullii. 
Ad  illustriss:  D.D.  Joan- 
nem  Morum,  pro  serenis- 
sima  Venetorum  Repub- 
lica  apud  Christianissi- 
mum  Gallorum  et  Polo- 
norum  Regem  legatuin. 


Parisiis  apud  AEgid- 
ium  Gorbinum,  sub 
insigni  Spei,  prope 
Collegium  Camera- 
cense.  32mo. 

LI.  numbered  143, 
with  many  tables 
and  diagrams. 


Caudelajo.  Comedia  del 
Bruno  Nolano,  Achade- 
mico  di  nulla  Achademia 
detto  il  fastidito. 

In  tristitia  hilaris,  in  Jiilari- 
tate  tristis. 


Paris. 

In  Parigi.  Appresso 
Guglelmo  Giuli- 
ano,  A1  Segno 
de  l’Amicitia. 
MDLXXXII. 


1 47  small  11.,  with 
a Sonnet,  Dedi- 
cation, Argument, 
j Antiprologue,  and 
Proprologue  occu- 
pying thirty -two 
additional  pages — 
in  all  179  pages. 
Tall  i6mo. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


3i3 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfrorer,  p.  235-284. 

Giovanni  Moro  was  a man 
of  rare  merit,  a lover 
of  letters,  an  accom- 
plished statesman,  and 
an  orator.  Bruno,  in 
the  Dedication,  says  he 
looks  upon  his  work  as  a 
pearl,  and  he  entreats 
Moro  to  preserve  it  from 
the  swine.  This  work 
is  on  the  art  of  Lully. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
printer  of  De  Compendiosa 
Arch.itectv.ra  lived  near  the 
College  of  Cambrai.  See 
Camocracensis  Acrotismos. 

Opere  di  Jordano  Bruno  Nolano. 
Ora  per  la  primavolta  raccolte 
et  pubblicate  da  Adolfo  Wag- 
ner Dottore.  In  due  volumi. 
Lipsia : Weidmann,  1830. 
Yol.  I.  p.  1 — 1 1 2.  8vo. 

BibliotecaBara,Vol.  1 8.  IlCan- 
delajo.  Commedia  di  Giordano 
Bruno,  nuovamente  stampata 
e diligentemente  corretta.  Mi- 
lano: G.Daelli  e Comp.  1863. 

11  Candelajo.  Commedia  in 
cinque  atti.  (Teatro  Classico 
Italiano.)  1829.  8vo. 

1 5 1 pages,  with  an  Introduc- 
tory Notice  by  Carlo  Teoli. 

In  the  bibliography  of  Tugini 
(see  De  Umbris  Idearum)  II 
Candelajo  is  said  to  have 
been  reprinted  in  1583. 

A comedy  in  five  acts, 
and  in  prose.  “ It  is 
dedicated,”  says  M.  de 
Chaufepie  in  his  sup- 
plement to  Bayle’s 
great  Dictionary,  “ to 
the  Signora  Morgana 
(perhaps  some  English- 
woman).” A French 
adaptation  (8vo)  of 
this  play,  under  the  title 
“Boniface  et  le Pedant, 
comedie,  en  prose,  imi- 
tee  de  1’italien  de  Bru- 
no,” appeared  in  Paris 
in  1633.  A second 
imitation  by  Cyrano 
de  Bergerac  is  called 
“ Le  Pedant  Joue.” 

3 1 4 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


[1583  ] Philothei  JordaniBruniNo-  [London.] 

lani,  Explicatio  triginta 
Sigillorum,  ad  omnium  , 
scientiarum  et  artium  in- 
ventionem,  dispositionem  1 
et  memoriam.  Quibus  ; S.  1.  and  d. 
adiectus  est  Sigillus  Sigil- 
lorum ad  omnes  animi 
operationes  comparandas  i 
et  earundem  rationes  ha- 
bendas  maxime  conducens.  : 

Et  non  temere  ars  artium 
nuncupatur:  hie  enim 

facile  invenies,  quidquid 
per  logic  am,  metaphysi- 
cam,  cabalam,  naturalem 
magiam,  artes  magnas 
atque  breves,  theoretice 
inquiritur. 


[I583-] 


Philothei  Jordani  Bruni 
Nolani  Sigillus  Sigillorum 
ad  omnes  animi  disposi- 
tiones  comparandas 
habitusque  perficiendos 
accomodatus. 


[London.] 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


315 


Repriuts.  Notes. 


Gfrorer,  p.  517—550. 

This  was  the  first  work  printed 
by  Yautrollier  for  Bruno  in 

Gfrorer  omits  an  open- 
ing poem  of  fourteen 
lines,  the  Dedication, 
the  Presentation,  the 
diagrams,  and  the 
leaves  numbered  16 
in  the  text. 

London.  It  was  dedicated 
to  the  French  Ambassador 
Castelnau  (W.  ii.  255),  and 
presented  to  the  Vice-Chancel- 
lor of  Oxford.  The  pages  are 
beautifully  printed  in  italics, 
and  decorated  with  eight  white 
mnemonic  figures  on  a black 
background.  The  verses  Dux 
gregis  of  the  Shadows  of  Ideas 
are  repeated.  The  first  3 2 
pages  only  are  numbered  on 
one  side  of  the  leaf,  and  were 
probably,  therefore,  not  printed 
at  the  same  time  as  the  re- 
mainder. Three  sets  of  verses, 
beginning  respectively  Lumine 
ae  clarone,  Uranie  vatem,  and 
Irrugit  licec,  are  reproduced, 
according  to  Bruno’s  habit, 
from  the  Ars  Memoriae. 

Gfrorer,  p.  551-600. 

Next  after  the  JExplicatio  Triginta 
Sigillorum  we  have  the  Seal 
of  Seals ; the  pages  unnum- 
bered and  in  fine  italic  type. 

The  printing  of  this  work  begins 
on  the  last  leaf  of  the  last 
sheet  of  the  Explicatio  Triginta 
Sigillorum. 

i6 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO . 


Date. 

Title. 

Where  Printed. 

I583- 

Philothei  Jordani  Bruni  Nolani, 
Recens  et  Completa  Ars  Be- 
miniscendi  et  in  phantastico 
carapo  exarandi  Ad  plurimas  in 
triginta  sigillis  inquirendi,  dis- 
ponendi,  atque  retinendi,  im- 
plicitas  novas  rationes  et  artes 
introductoria. 

No  date  or  place. 

Closely  followed  by : Jordani 
Bruni  Nolani  Ars  alia  brevior 
et  expeditior  ad  verborum 
memoriam. 

1584. 

La  Cena  de  le  Ceneri  descritta 
in  cinque  dialogi  per  quattro 
Interlocutori  con  tre  Considera- 
zioni,  circa  doi  Suggetti. 

[London.] 

SL. 

All’Unico  Refugio  de  le  Muse 
L’lllustrissimo  Michel  di  Cas- 
telnovo  Signor  di  Mauvissier 
Concressalto,  e di  Jonvilla,  Ca- 
valier del’Ordine  del  Re  Chris- 
tianiss:  E Consiglier  nel  suo 
privato  Conseglo,  capitano  di 
5oHuoxnini  d’arme,Governator 
e Capitano  di  S : Desiderio  ; et 
Ambasciator  alia  serenissima 
Regina  d’Inghilterra. 

0 O 

L’universale  intentione  e dichia- 
rata  nel  proemio. 

THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO.  317 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfr.  517. 

The  introduction  to  this  work,  beginning 
“ Intentio  nostra  est is  repeated  from 
Cantus  Circceus  (Gfr.  206—208),  and 
the  entire  work,  including  the  Ars  alia 
brevior  et  expeditor,  is  reproduced  from 
the  Paris  publication : Gfrorer  there- 
fore only  prints  the  title-page.  The 
opening  verses  Jordanus  Libro,  and 
what  may  be  called  the  fable  of  the 
Cantus  Circceus  are  omitted  from  the 
Recens  et  completa  Ars  Reminiscendi. 
Eight  extraordinary  figures,  containing 
mnemonic  signs  placed  in  lines  and 
squares,  complete  the  work. 

Wagner,  vol.  i. 
p.  1 1 3-200. 

i2mo;  11.  8 ; 128  numbered  pages. 

Biblioteca  rara, 
vol.  3 6.  La 
Cenade  leCe- 
neri.per  Gior- 
dano Bruno 
(Milano : G. 
Daelli  et  C., 
1864). 

ISTuova  edizione 
diligentemen- 
te  corretta. 

1 8 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


1584. 


Giordano  Bruno  Nolano,  De 
la  Causa,  Principio,  et 
Uno.  A l’lllustrissimo 
Signor  di  Mauvissiero. 


[London.] 

Stampato  in  Venezia, 
Anno  mdlxxxiv. 


1584- 


Giordano  Bruno  Nolano,  [London.] 

De  l’infinito,  Universo,  e 

Mondi.  AH’illustrissimo  Stampato  in  Venezia. 

Signor  di  Mauvissiero. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO.  319 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Wagner,  vol.  i.  p.  201— 
292.  An  excellent 
annotated  transla- 
tion of  this  work, 
Giordano  Bruno , Von 
dor  Ursache,  dem 
Princip  und  dem 
Binen,  by  Adolf 
Lasson,  appeared  at 
Berlin,  1872  (Hei- 
mann).  An  imper- 
fect rendering  is 
furnished  by  Bixner 
and  Siber,  Leben  und 
lehrmeinung  en  be- 
riihmter  Physiker  am 
Ende  des  XVI.  und 
am  Anfange  des 
XVII.  Jahrhunderts, 
Sulzbach,  1824. 

LI.  12,  and  142  pages. 

Printed  in  London.  In  the 
eleventh  document  of  the  Trial 
Bruno  says,  “ All  those  (books) 
said  to  be  printed  in  Venice, 
were  printed  in  England,  and 
it  was  the  Printer  who  desired 
it  to  appear  they  were  printed 
in  Venice,  in  order  to  sell  them 
more  easily,  for  if  he  had  said 
they  were  printed  in  England 
it  would  have  been  more  dif- 
ficult to  sell  them  in  that 
country ; and  almost  all  the 
others  were  printed  in  England, 
even  when  they  say  Paris,  and 
elsewhere.” 

The  opening  passages  of  The 
Cause  are  repeated  in  Dc  Im- 
menso,  i.  c.  2,  p.  1 5 3. 

Wagner,  vol.  ii.p.  1-104. 

A German  translation 
of  this  work  by  Rix- 
ner  and  Siber  (title 
as  above)  omits  the 
Introduction.  The 

Introduction  only  is 
translated  into  Eng- 
lish and  printed  in  “A 
Collection  of  Several 
Pieces  of  Mr.  John 
Toland,”  2 vols.  Lon- 
don : Peele,  at  locke’s 
Head  in  Paternoster 
Row.  MDCCXXVI. 

LI.  16  and  pp.  175. 

1 

32  o 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 

1584. 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


Spaccio  de  la  Bestia 
Trionfante,  pro- 
posto  da  Gioue, 
Effettuato  dal  con- 
seglo,  Eeuelato  da 
Mercurio,  recitato 
da  Sophia,  iudito 
da  Saulino,  regis- 
trato  dal  Nolano , 
Diuiso  in  tre  Dia- 
logi,  subdivisi  in 
tre  parti. 

Consecrato  al  motto 
illustre  et  eccellente 
Caualliero  Sig. 
Philippo  Sidneo. 


[London.] 

Stampato 
in  Parigi. 
MDLXXXIIII. 


Reprints. 


Wagner,  voL  ii. 
p.  105-250. 

Spaccio  della 
Bestia  Trion- 
fante Biblio- 
teca  rara.  Yol. 
xxvi.  Milano: 
G.  Daelli  et 
Cie.  1863. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


321 


Notes. 


Two  hundred  and  sixty-one  pages,  i2mo;  with  an  Intro- 
duction,- the  pages  of  which  are  not  numbered. 

“This  book,”  says  Father  Niceron,  “is  despicable  in  itself, 
and  is  despised  to  such  a degree  that  at  the  sale  of  M.  Bigot’s 
library,  in  1706,  it  fetched  (with  five  other  works  by  the  same 
writer)  but  25  sous,  though,”  he  adds,  “by  the  folly  of  biblio- 
maniacs, it  has  since  reached  an  exorbitant  price  ” ( Niceron , 
Memoires  pour  servir  dux  hommes  illustres,  vol.  xvii.  p.  2 1 1 ). 
At  the  sale  of  the  Abbe  de  Rothelin  the  Expulsion  fetched  1132 
francs.  A translation  of  this  work  was  published  in  London 
under  the  title,  “Spaccio  della  Bestia  Trionfante,  or  the  Expul- 
sion of  the  Triumphant  Beast.  Translated  from  the  Italian  of 
Giordano  Bruno.  London:  Printed  in  the  year  1713.”  The 
Dedication  to  Sir  P.  Sidney  is  omitted. 

In  the  British  Museum  Catalogue  there  is  the  following  note: 
“Translated  (by  W.  Morehead)  from  the  Italian  of  G.  B.  Engl. 
Only  50  copies  printed.”  Mr.  Bohn,  however,  says  that  more 
than  sixty  copies  have  passed  through  his  hands  alone. 

A French  reproduction  of  this  work  has  the  following  title  : 
“Le  Ciel  Reforme.  Essai  de  traduction  de  partie  du  livre  italien 
Spaccio  della  Bestia  Trionfante.  Demus  alienis  oblectationibus 
Veniam,  dum  nostris  impetremus. — Plin.  L’an  1000,700,50.” 
The  translator,  in  a dedication  to  “ Monsieur  * * promises,  in 
quaint  terms,  that  if  his  patron  favours  him,  his  pen  will  revive, 
and  he  will  finish  the  work ; but  if  not,  he  will  refrain  from  the 
amusement  of  his  leisure,  and  will  repair  to  abodes  of  peace, 
“ where  books  are  esteemed  at  their  just  value,  not  because  they 
are  rare,  but  because  they  are  efficacious  and  deserving.”  On 
the  “reviving  pen”  has  been  laid  the  silence  of  the  grave,  and 
the  work  remains  unfinished ; the  translator  ominously  with- 
holding his  name.  In  a too  sprightly  humour  he  speaks  of  the 
martyrdom  of  Bruno,  whom  he  calls  “this  good  Jacobin,'"  as  “a 
literary  anecdote,”  perhaps  because  he  wished  to  make  light  of 
the  event : although,  to  do  him  justice,  he  warmly  denied  the 
charge  when  a friend  whom  he  met  told  him  that  Bruno’s  book 
was  a satire  against  the  Court  of  Rome. 

Harking,  a German  writer,  gives  an  interesting  review  of 
Bruno’s  Ethics,  chiefly  founded  upon  the  Expulsion  ; “ Grund- 
linien  einer  Ethik  bei  Giordano  Bruno,”  Leipsig,  1878.  Enfield, 
in  his  not  unkindly  notice  of  Bruno  (History  of  Philosophy, 
vol.  ii.  p.  474),  humorously  renders  the  title,  “Dispatches  from 
the  Triumphant  Beast.” 


x 


322 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


1 535- 


Cabala  del  Cavallo  Pegaseo. 


[London.] 


Con  l’agguinta  dell’  Asino 


Cillcnico.  Descritta  dal 
Nolano:  dedicata  al  Ves- 
covo  di  Casamarciano. 


Parigi,  appresso  An- 
tonio Baio.  Anno 
I 535- 


1585- 


Giordano  Bruno  Nolano. 

De  Gli  Heroici  Furori. 
Al  molto  illustre  et  excel- 
lente  Caualliero  Signor 
Philippo  Sidneo. 


[London.] 

Parigi,  Appresso  An- 
tonio Baio.  L’Anno. 
I 585- 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


323 


Reprints. 


Notes. 


Wagner  (vol.  ii. 
p.  253-296). 

Biblioteca  rara,  vol.  3 5, 
Cabala  del  Cavallo 
Pegaseo  con  l’agguin- 
ta  del  Asino  Cillenico 
per  Giordano  Bruno. 
Milano : Daelli  et 
Comp.  1864. 


Wagner  (vol.  ii. 
p.  297-437). 

Biblioteca  rara,  pubbli- 
cata  da  G.  Daelli, 
vol.  57.  Gli  Eroici 
urori  di  Giordano 
Bruno.  Milano,  1 864. 


LI.  47.  Pages  unnumbered. 

This  book  was  also  printed  in 
London  (Doc.  xi.)  It  con- 
sists of  a Dedicatory  Epistle, 
three  Sonnets,  a“Declamation,” 
three  Dialogues,  of  which  the 
second  is  again  divided  into 
three,  and  an  Appendix.  The 
theme  of  the  book  is  that 
Piety,  which,  according  to 
Bruno,  takes  undue  advantage 
of  certain  passages  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  setting  itself  up  to 
be  better  than  Science,  falls  a 
prey  to  the  dull  idleness  and 
ignorance  of  the  Ass.  An  en- 
graving of  two  lively  donkeys 
in  a wood,  designed  and  pro- 
bably cut  by  Bruno,  completes 
the  whole. 


LI.  140.  Pages  [unnumbered] 
beautifully  printed  on  fine  paper. 

A beautiful  and  poetic  render- 
ing of  some  of  the  sonnets  in 
this  work  is  given  by  Professor 
Carriere.  Dr.  Brunnhofer  also 
translates  several  of  the  poems. 
A great  number  appear  in  the 
“ Programme  des  stadtischen 
Gymnasiums  zu  Stolp  fur  das 
Schuljahr  1869—70.”  They  are 
carefully  rendered  into  verse 
by  Prof.  Hermann  Schiitz. 


324 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 
1 586. 


1 586. 


Title. 


Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  dialog!  duo 
de  Fabbricii  Mordentis  Saler- 
nitani  prope  divina  adinven- 
tione  ad  perfectam  Cosmimet- 
riae  praxim. 

With  an  affix,  Jordani  Bruni 
Insomnium. 

In  the  same  volume,  and  printed 
at  the  same  time  and  place,  is 
Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  Figu- 
ratio  Aristotelici  physici  audi- 
tus  ad  eiusdem  intelligentiam 
atque  retentionem  per  quinde- 
cim  imagines  explicanda,  ad 
illustrem  admodum  atque  re- 
verendum  dominum  D.  Petrum 
Dalbenium  Abbatem  Belleville. 


“ Centum,  et  rigiati  articuli  de 
natura  et  mundo  adversus 
peripateticos.  Per  Joh.  Hen- 
nequinum  Nobilem  Parisien. 
Lutelie  proposito.  Sub  clipeo 
and  moderamine  Jordani  Bruni 
Nolani,  infra  octava  Pente- 
costes,  an  1586. 


Where  Printed. 

Parisiis,  ex  ty- 
pography Pe- 
tri Chevellot, 
in  vico  S. 
Joannis  late- 
ranensis  sub 
Rosa  rubra, 
1586. 


Impressum 
Parisiis,  ad 
Authoris  in- 
stant. 1586. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


325 


Reprints. 


Notes. 


This  work  has  hitherto  escaped 
notice,  probably  because  it 
appears  with  the  name  of 
Hennequin.  There  is  a copy 
in  the  British  Museum. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


3-(> 


Date. 


1587. 


1 587- 


Title.  Where  Printed. 


Jord.  Brunus  Nolanus.  De  Wittenberg. 
Lampade  Combinatoria 
Lulliana.  Ad  Amplissi- 
mum  Witebergensis 
academiae  Senatum. 


Jordanus  Brunus  Nolanus. 
De  Progressu  et  Lampade 
Yenatoria  Logicorum. 
Ad  prompts  atq  copiose 
de  quocumq  proposito  pro- 
blemate  disputandum. 

Next  comes  Jord.  B.  No- 
lanus.  De  Progressu 
Logicae  Yenationis,  and 
then  Jordanus  Brunus 
Nolanus.  De  Lampade 
Yenatoria  Logicorum. 


[Wittenberg.] 

SL. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


327 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfrorer,  p.  621—702. 

To  introduce  the  art  of  Lully  to 
the  Academy  at  Wittenberg. 
An  enlarged  and  perfected 
reproduction  of  The  Compen- 
dious Architecture.  It  dis- 
plays, among  others,  a wheel- 
shaped figure,  or  sphere,  often 
drawn  by  Bruno,  containing 
within  itself  nine  Divine  attri- 
butes— glory,  bounty,  magni- 
tude, duration,  power,  wisdom, 
will,  virtue,  truth. 

Gfrorer,  p.  703-770. 
Baymundi  Lullii  opera. 
Argentorati,  1 609,  p. 

735~786- 

On  second  page,  Excellentissimo, 
et  Adm.  Bev.  D.  D.  Georgio 
Mylio,  Augustano,  Witeber- 
gensis  Academiae  Cancellario, 
Jordanus  B.  Nolanus,  S.  P.  D. 
LI.  3-9.  Pp.  1-79.  LI.  8, 
and  79  pp. 

3?S 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date.  Title.  Where  Printed. 


1588.  Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  Ca-  Wittenberg  apud 

moeracensis  Acrotismus,  Zachariam  Cra- 

seu  Rationes  Articulorum  , tonem. 

physicorum  adversus  Pe- 
ripateticos  Parisiis  pro- 
positorum,  etc. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


329 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfrorer,  p.  1-112. 

LI.  20  and  pp.  128. 

The  heads  of  a public  disputa- 

Jordani  Bruni  Nolan  i 
opera  latine  con- 
scripta  recensebat  F. 
Fiorentino.  Naples, 
apud  Dom.  Morano. 
1879. 

p.  53-190. 

tion  held  in  Paris  at  Whit- 
suntide 1586,  in  the  hall  of 
the  College  of  Cambrai.  Cre- 
vier,  in  a note  in  his  History 
of  the  Paris  University,  says 
the  title  proves  that  the  dis- 
putation did  not  take  place  in 
the  Sorbonne.  A college  was 
founded  in  Paris  by  three 
bishops,  one  of  whom  was 
Bishop  of  Cambrai ; hence  the 
title.  When  Francis  I.  founded 
a school  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Latin,  the  royal  professors, 
having  no  college  of  their 
own,  hired  a hall,  usually  in 
the  College  of  Cambrai,  and 
Bruno  may  have  done  the 
same.  The  College  of  France 
now  stands  on  the  site  of  the 
College  of  Cambrai,  and  it 
was  here  that  Edgar  Quinet 
delivered  his  lecture  on  Bruno 
in  1842. 

33° 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 


Dictated 

Witten- 

berg, 

1587- 

Printed 
P rank- 
fort, 
1612. 


8th 

March 

1588. 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


Artificium  perorandi  tra- 
ditum  a Jordano  Bruno 
Nolano  Italo,  commui- 
catum  a Johan  Henrico 
Alstedio  In  gratiam  eorum, 
qui  eloquentiae  vim  et 
rationem  cognoscere  cu- 


Francofurti  prostat 
apud  Antonium 
Hummium,  1612. 


piunt.  Following  Al- 
sted’s  Introduction,  Ex- 
plicatio  rhetoricae  Aris- 
totelis  ad  Alexandrum 
privatim  a J.  Bruno  No- 
lano  Italo  dictata.  Wit- 
tembergae  Anno  1587. 
With  Secunda  Pars  rheto- 
rices  addita  praecedenti  a 
J.  Bruno  Nolano  Italo. 


Oratio  Yaledictoria  a Jor- 
dano Bruno  Nolano  D. 
habita,  Ad  Amplissimos 
et  clarissimos  professores, 
atque  auditores  in  acade- 
mia witebergensi  Anno 
1588,  8 Martii. 


Wittenberg  Typis 
Zachariae  Cratonis. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


33i 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Gfrorer,  p.  113—178. 

i2mo.,  pp.  144,  numbered. 

Heumann.  Acta  philos. 
9,  408  ff. 

Jordani  Bruni  Nolani 
Opera  Latine  Con- 
scripta  recensebat,  F. 
Fiorentino  (Naples : 
Apud.  Dom.  Morano, 
1879),  p.  1-25. 

332 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 

Title. 

Where  Printed. 

I Oth 

Jordanus  Brunus 

l'ragae,  ex- 

J une 

Nolanus,de  speci- 

cudebat 

1588. 

erum  scrutinio  et 

Georgius 

Lampade  Combi- 

Nigrinus. 

natoria  Raymun- 
di  Lullii  Doctoris 
Heremitse  omnis- 
cij,  propk  modum- 
que  divini. 


Reprints. 


Gfrorer,  p.  60 1 — 
702. 

This  series  was 
reprinted  with 
the  works  of 
Lully,  Argen- 
torati,  1598, 
8vo,  p.  682, 
seq. ; also,  ed. 
1609,  p.  664. 


1588. 

Centum  et  Sexa- 
ginta  Articuli  ad- 
versus  hujus  tem- 
pestatis  mathe- 
maticos. 

Prague. 

1 

THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


333 


Notes. 


68  11.,  unnumbered,  8vo.  Ad  excellentissimum  Guil. 
de  S.  Clemente  regis  Hispaniee  in  aula  imperat.  legatum. 

Buhle  and  others  hold  this  work  to  be  a reprint 
or  repetition  of  the  Wittenberg  publication  De  Lampade 
Combinatoria.  It  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
but  simply  the  Wittenberg  edition  itself,  as  can  be 
proved  by  a careful  comparison  of  the  Wittenberg  book 
and  of  the  book  issued  at  Prague.  The  explanation  is 
probably  that  when  Bruno  left  Wittenberg  for  Prague 
the  whole  of  his  edition  was  not  sold.  He  took  the  unsold 
copies  with  him  to  Prague,  wrote  an  Introduction  entitled 
De  Specierum  Scrutinio,  cancelled  the  Wittenberg  title- 
page,  and  bound  up  the  new  pages  with  his  unsold  copies. 
The  Introduction  with  its  special  title  consists  of  the 
Dedication  to  the  Spanish  Ambassador.  It  contains 
further  the  tables  of  the  nine  elementary  concepts ; their 
absolute  and  relative  predicates,  and  the  figures  denoting 
their  manifold  combinations.  Forty  leaves  of  this  work 
(from  the  title  De  Lampade  Combinatoria  Lulliana  to  the 
first  four  lines  of  Chapter  IV.,  De  Multiplications  regu- 
larum ) are  printed  on  paper  considerably  thicker  and  of 
a different  colour  to  the  rest,  and  probably  form  part  of 
the  original  edition.  The  remaining  twenty-four  leaves 
resemble  the  paper  of  De  Specierum  Scrutinio.  The  same 
print  is  used  throughout ; the  protruding  letters,  battered 
letters,  decorated  initials,  and  finals,  are  those  of  the 
Wittenberg  publication. 


Dedicated  to  the  Emperor  Budolf  II. 


334 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 


Febr. 

1589. 


Febr. 

1591- 


Title. 


Where  Printed. 


Oratio  Consolatoria  J or- 
dani  Bruni  Nolani  Itali. 
D.  babita  in  illustri  cele- 
berrima  que  Academia 
Julia.  In  fine  solern- 
nissimarum  exequiarum 
in  obitum  Illustrissimi 
potentessimique  Principis 
Julii,  Ducis  Brunsvicen- 
sium  Luneburgensium, 
etc. 


Helmstedt. 


Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  de 

triplici  Minimo  et  Men- 
sura  ad  trium  specula- 
tivarum  scientiarum  et 
multarum  acti varum  ar- 
tium  principia  libri  v. 
Ad  illustrissimum  et 
reverendiss.  Principem 
Henricum  Julium,  Bruns- 
vicensium  et  Luneb. 
Ducem,  Halberstaten- 
sium  Episcopum.  Capita 
cuiusq  libri,  proxime  post 
praefationem  sunt  expo- 
sita : Schematum  item 

et  definitionum  praecipu- 
arum  Index  alphabeticus 
in  fine  additus. 


Francofurti  apud 
JoannemWechelum 
et  Petrum  Fiscbe- 
rum  consortes. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


335 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

F.  Fioren- 
tino,  p. 
27-52. 

Delivered  at  the  Julia  Academy  of  Helmstedt 
on  the  death  of  its  founder,  Duke  Henry 
Julius  of  Brunswick. 

LI.  4 and  218  pp. 

This  poem  is  closely  allied  to  the  Italian  dia- 
logue Della  Causa.  Certain  pages  of  De 
Minimo  and  of  De  Monade  are  almost  literal 
versifications  of  Della  Causa  and  DelT  Infini- 
te). The  following,  with  regard  to  the  order 
of  the  didactic  poems,  occurs  in  the  Dedica- 
tion: Adsuntprimo  De  Minimo  libri;  secundo 
de  Monade  liber;  tertio  De  Immenso.  The 
words  “ consequens  quinque  de  Minimo ,” 
printed  with  the  title  of  De  Monade,  prove 
it  to  be  a sequel  to  De  Minimo. 

The  printing  was  finished  February  1591  ; 
the  Dedication  is  dated  February  13.  The 
work  is  in  three  parts : the  first  part  is 
metaphysical ; the  second  mathematical, 
with  problems  resembling  those  of  Euclid, 
and  introductory  to  those  mystic  figures 
of  Lull  us,  with  which  the  third  part  of  this 
work  is  occupied. 

33  6 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 


Title. 


1591- 


Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  de  Monade, 
Numeroet  Figura  liber,  consequens 
Quinque  de  minimo,  magno  et 
Mensura.  Item  de  Innumera- 
bilibus Immenso,  et  Infigurabili ; 
seu  de  Universo  et  Mundis  libri 
octo.  Ad  illustrissimum  et  reve- 
rendissimum  Principem  Henricum 
Juliurn,  Brunsvicensium  et  Lune- 
burgensium  ducem,  Halberstaden- 
sium  Episcopum,  &c.  After  146 
pages,  Jordanus  Brunus  Nolanus  ! 
De  Immenso  et  Innumerabilibus 
seu  de  Universo  et  Mundis.  Ad 
lllustriss.et  Reverendiss.  Heroem 
Henrictm  (sic)  Juliurn  Bruns- 
vicensium et  Lunseburgensium 
Ducem,  Halberstadensium  Epis- 
copum, &c.  On  the  198th  page 
we  have  a new  title  with  continu- 
ous paging,  Jordani  Bruni  Nolani, 
de  Maximo  et  Immenso.  On  page 
346,  Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  De 
Immenso  et  Innumerabilibus, 
which  heads  the  pages,  according 
to  Bruno’s  habit,  until  page  507, 
when  a further  change  takes 
place,  Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  De 
Universo  et  Innumerabilibus. 
Book  YII.  and  Book  VIII.  have 
each  different  titles,  655  pages  in 
all;  prefixed  12  unpaged  leaves. 


Where  Printed. 


Francofurti 
apud  Joan. 
Wechelum 
et  Petr. 
Fischer  um 
consortes. 
8vo. 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


337 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

Under  the  title  Jorda- 
nus  Brunus  Nolanus 
De  Immenso  et  In- 
numerabilibus  seu  de 
Universo  et  Mundis, 
Signor  Fiorentino 
prints  the  Dedication 
to  the  Monad.  The 
whole  of  that  work, 
145  pages  in  all,  is 
then  omitted,  and 
three  hooks  follow, 
one  of  which  is  en- 
titled De  Immenso ; 
the  other  two,  De 
Maximo  et  Immenso 
(page  19 1 to  398). 
The  Editor’s  capri- 
cious treatment  is 
severely  taken  to 
task  by  Professor 
Sigwart  in  the 

Gelehrte  Anzeigen 
of  Gottingen,  5 th 
and  1 2 th  January 
1881. 

This  poem  contains  the  substance 
of  the  dialogues  Dell ’ Injinito. 
Both  are  concerned  with  God 
as  the  Cause  and  Principle, 
and  in  his  Essence ; in  contra- 
distinction to  the  foregoing, 

O 0 7 

which  treats  of  his  works. 
These  works  are  substantially 
one  ; the  paging  is  continuous. 

Y 


338 


THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 

Title. 

Where  Printed. 

1591- 

Jordani  Bruni  Nolani,  De 

Erankfort  apud  Joan. 

Imaginum,  Signorum  et 

Wechelum  et 

Idearum  compositione,  ad 

Petrum  Fischerum 

omnia  Inventionum,  Dis- 
positionum  et  Memoriae 
genera  libri  tres.  Ad 
illustrem  et  generosiss : 
loan.  Hainricum  Hain- 
cellium  Elcouiae  Domi- 
num.  Credite  et  intelli- 
getis. 

consortes. 

1 595- 

Summa  Terminorum  meta- 

Zurich  apud  Jo.Wol- 

physicorum  ad  capessen- 
dum  Logicae  et  Philoso- 
pliiae  studium,  ex  Jordani 
Bruni  Nolani  Entis  De- 
scensu  manusc.  excerpta : 
nunc  primum  luci  com- 
missa  a Baphaele  Eglino 

phium. 

Iconio,  Tigurino.  Tiguri. 

1609. 

Summa  Terminorum  Me- 
taphysicorum  Jordani 

Marburg. 

Bruni  Nolani.  Acessit 

Marpurgi  Cattorum, 

ejusdem  Praxis  Descen- 

Ex  OfFicina  Rodol- 

sus,  seu  applicatio  Entis 
ex  manuscripto  per  Ra- 
phaelum  Eglinum,  Ico- 
nium  Tigurinum. 

phi  Hutovelckeri. 

THE  EXISTING  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


339 


Reprints. 

Notes. 

4 11.  and  213  pages.  A curious  fault  in 
the  paging  occurs  next  page  209.  The 
third  book  is  the  same  as  the  Explicatio 
triginta  sigillorum. 

The  preface  speaks  of  this  work  as  unam 
de  ingenii  mei  foeturis  jam  diu  conceptam 
atque  retentam.  It  belongs  to  the  cetera 
industrice  momumenta  alluded  to  in  the 
Dedication  of  the  Threefold  Minimum, 
as  already  finished. 

4to,  28  leaves. 

A portion  of  an  abridgment  of  Bruno’s 
metaphysics  and  a lexicon  of  philoso- 
phic concepts,  dictated  to  his  pupil, 
Raphael  Eglin,  seemingly  under  the  title 
Lampas  de  Entis.  Eglin  entitles  them 
Praxis  descensu  sen  Applicatio  Entis. 
With  a Dedication  dated  vi.  Cal.  May 
1595.  Dictated  at  Zurich  towards 
Easter  1591. 

Gfrorer,  pp. 
413-516. 

Nine  years  later,  when  Eglin  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology  at  Marburg,  he  re- 
printed the  work  with  considerable 
additions. 

TABLE  II. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS. 


II. 


In  the  year  1866  the  booksellers  Tross  of  Paris  an- 
nounced that  they  had  in  their  possession  a number  of 
manuscripts  written  in  Bruno’s  own  hand,  and  hitherto 
unpublished.  The  manuscript,  in  small  4to,  consists  of 
184  leaves,  and  contains  nine  treatises  and  an  entire 
book,  written  by  the  Nolan.  This  valuable  collection 
was  said  by  Messrs.  Tross  to  he  in  Bruno’s  hand ; and 
M.  Abraham  de  Noroff,  a member  of  the  Petersburg 
Academy  and  Russian  Minister  of  Instruction,  who  bought 
the  manuscripts  and  made  them  over  to  the  Moscow 
Library,  shares  the  opinion  of  Messrs.  Tross. 

M.  Dufour  points  out  that,  on  comparing  the  facsimiles, 
Bruno’s  autograph  in  the  Book  of  the  Rector  of  Geneva, 
for  example,  does  not  resemble,  even  in  the  most  remote 
degree,  the  writing  of  the  treatise  De  Vinculis  in  Genere, 
reproduced  by  M.  Berti  from  the  Noroff  manuscripts. 
The  latter  is  extremely  fine  and  small,  while  Bruno’s 
autographs  are  unusually  large  and  bold.  M.  Dufour 
suggests  that  the  Noroff  manuscripts  are  probably  in  the 
hand  of  one  of  the  numerous  pupils  to  whom  Bruno  was 
in  the  habit  of  dictating. 

One  of  the  Noroff  manuscripts,  De  Rerum  Principiis 
et  Elementis  et  Causis,  is  dated  16th  March  1590  (Monday 
in  the  Julian  Calendar).  It  was  finished  during  Bruno’s 
stay  at  Helmstedt.  Another — Liber  Triginta  Statuarum 1 

1 In  Libro  Triginta  Statuarum  the  soul,  which  may  perhaps  be  part 
non  edito  sed  Scripto  (De  Monade,  of  the  lost  work,  De  Anima.  The 
p.  128).  The  whole  of  this  work,  book  is  remarkable,  because  it  speaks 
over  which  Bartholmess  pronounces  of  the  immateriality  and  substan- 
a touching  lament,  is  in  the  Noroff  tiality  of  the  soul,  and  of  Bruno’s 
Collection.  It  contains  a chapter  on  belief  in  revelation. 


344 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


— is  dated  1st  July  1591.  It  opens  with  a passage  which 
is  substantially  repeated  in  the  Eroici  Furori  (W.  ii.  405, 
406).  The  work  was  finished  at  Padua,  1st  October  1591. 

M.  Dufour  points  out  that  in  the  autumn  of  1591 
Bruno  employed  as  his  secretary  for  about  two  months 
a scholar  named  Jerome  Besler1  (Doc.  XI.),  of  Nurem- 
berg. De  Triginta  Statuarum  therefore  may  be  in  the 
hand  of  Besler.  A monogram  of  the  interlaced  letters, 
G.  J.  B.  (Giordano  Bruno,  Jerome  Besler),  seems  to  point 
to  this  conclusion. 

Although  it  is  possible  that  the  more  finished  treatises 
were  copied  by,  or  dictated  to,  his  pupils,  there  can,  in  any 
case,  be  no  reason  why  the  disjointed  notes,  of  which  the 
first  section  of  MSS.  is  composed,  should  not  be  in  Bruno’s 
own  hand.  On  leaf  85  will  be  found  eight  lines  in 
poetry,  which  appear  in  a finished  form  as  the  ninth 
sonnet  in  the  Eroici  Furori.  It  is  therefore  a mistake  to 
imagine  that  the  whole  of  the  manuscript  is  of  one  period, 
or  in  one  hand. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Professor  Sigwart  that  Bruno’s  letter 
to  the  Bector  of  Helmstedt  is  “ an  undoubted  autograph,” 
and  when  comparing  it  with  the  facsimile  of  the  Noroff 
MSS.,  the  learned  Professor  adds,  “ The  resemblance  of  the 
handwriting  is  not  great  enough  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  both  are  written  by  the  same  person.”  I am  assured 
by  Dr.  Yon  Heinemann,  the  librarian-in-chief  of  Wol- 
fenbiittel,  in  a very  kind  and  courteous  letter,  that  of  the 
celebrated  Helmstedt  manuscript  (now  in  the  Ducal  library 
at  Wolfenbiittel),  only  the  date,  October  6,  1589,  and 
the  signature,  are  in  Bruno’s  hand,  notwithstanding  the 
formula  qui  script  manu  propria,  which,  as  I saw  in  Venice, 
does  not  apply  to  an  entire  letter,  but  to  the  signature 
only.  Doc.  III.  of  the  Venetian  trial  ends  with  a similar 
phrase,  referring  to  the  signature,  not  to  the  document 
in  its  entirety,  which  is  written  in  another  hand.  M. 

1 Besler,  himself  a celebrated  doc-  Besler  of  Nuremberg,  a pupil  of 
tor  (Brunuhofer,  p.  324),  was  born  Luther.  The  brother  of  Jerome, 
in  1566.  He  was  the  son  of  Michael  Basil,  was  a noted  botanist. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS.  345 

Noroff  concludes  his  notice  of  this  valuable  collection  in 
the  following  words  : — 

“We  call  the  attention  of  the  learned  world  to  passages 
in  these  manuscripts  which  completely  remove  from  the 
memory  of  this  celebrated  Italian  the  scandalous  charge 
that  he  professed  unchristian  doctrines  and  believed 
in  the  transmigration  of  souls.  . . . The  book  De 
Triginta  Statuarum  acknowledges  revelation,  and  dwells 
upon  the  words  of  Christ  (whose  holy  name  is  traced  by 
the  hand  of  Bruno  in  capital  letters) ; and  again,  those 
passages  which  speak  of  the  immateriality  and  substan- 
tiality of  the  soul  protest  aloud  against  those  of  his  foes  to 
whom,  doubtless,  he  applies  the  wrnrds  of  Christ  quoted  by 
him  upon  page  48,  Hie  dies  vestra  et  potestas  tenebrarum.” 
The  following  bibliographical  notice  of  the  ISToroff 
Catalogue  is  printed  in  the  Documenti  inlorno  a Giordano 
Bruno  (Borne,  1880),  by  Domenico  Berti : — 

NOTICE  BIBLIOGBAPHIQUE, 

SUR  UN  MANUSCRIT  AUTOGRAPHE  DES  (EUVRES  INCITES  DE 
GIORDANO  BRUNO  NOLANO. 

(: Tiree  du  Catalogue  de  la  Bibliotheque  de  M.  Abraham  de  Noroff.) 


104.  (Jordani  Bruni  Nolani  Opera  INEDITA,  MANU 
propria  scripta).  Pet.  in-40,  1 84  f.  Enveloppe  en  parche- 
min,  formee  d’une  feuille  qui  a appartenu  a un  Missel 
MS.  du  XVe  siecle. 

Cette  precieuse  collection  renferme  9 traites  plus  ou 
moins  considerables  et  tout  le  livre : “ De  triginta  statua- 
rum.” On  y retrouve,  comme  on  le  verra,  presque  tous 
les  ouvrages  de  Bruno  qu’on  croyait  perdus.  II  n’y  a que 
(sic)  V Arc  de  Nod,  le  Temple  de  Mndmosyne  et  le  Purgatoire 
de  Venfer,  qui  n’y  sont  pas  compris.1 


1 Ne  pouvant  pas  placer  dans  le  detaillee  de  ces  oeuvres,  nous  nous 
cadre  d’un  catalogue  une  analyse  bornons  a un  aperQU  oil  l’on  trouvera 


346 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


On  rencontre  en  premier  lieu  un  brouillon  de  6 feuil- 
lets  decousus  dont  les  4 premiers  sont  numerates. 

Les  pages  de  ce  brouillon  se  rapportent  k l’opuscule 
intitule  De  vinculis  spirituum. 

Elies  ont  une  importance  particuliere,  vu  qu’elles  deno- 
tent tout  d’abord  l’origine  italienne  du  celebre  auteur  et 
prouvent  d’une  maniere  irrecusable  que  ce  MS.  est  auto- 
graphe.  On  y trouve  des  versets  italiens  intercales  dans 
le  texte  latin  d’une  maniere  provisoire,  sans  se  rapporter 
directement  au  sens  du  texte  de  cette  page,  mais  qui 
peuvent  s’adapter  au  quatrieme  feuillet  ou  il  est  question 
des  liens  ou  des  noeuds  ( vincula ) de  lamour  spirituel 
( animi  vinculum).  On  lit  sur  le  recto  de  la  f.  ile: 

“ Se  si  potesse  a te  chiuder  l’entrata 
Tant’il  regno  d’amor  saresse  piu  vago 1 

Quant’il  mondo  senz’odio  et  senza  morte.” 

Les  deux  premiers  vers  et  ce  dernier  sont  separes  par 
le  texte  latin  qui  se  trouve  en  partie  biffe  et  par  conse- 
quent, doivent  etre  unis,  ce  qui  explique  leur  beau  sens. 

Au  recto  de  la  feuille  5e,  qui  n’est  pas  numerotde,  on 
lit : 

“ Chi  mette  il  pie  su  l’amorosa  pania.  . . 

Ce  vers  appartient  a Arioste.  Ensuite  : 

“Dove  l’amor  Venereo  spinge  piu  gagliardamente.  . . 

Nous  n’avons  pas  pu  bien  lire  ce  passage  qui  consiste  en 
trois  lignes. 

Finalement  on  trouve  cinq  vers  dont  nous  avons 
dechiffre  seulement  ce  qui  suit : 


les  titres  des  traites  et  des  chapitres 
et  quelques  fragments  de  chaque 
traite. 

1 Nous  soulignons  les  mots  qui  ne 
sont  pas  bien  lisibles. 


A noi  pare  stando  al  fac-simile 
che  si  debba  leggere  saria  invece  del 
saresse;  cosi  piii  sotto  noi  leggianio, 
ne  distanza  di  loco,  etc. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


347 


“ Ne  distanza  di  loro  ne  di  tempo 
Ne  altra  alcuna  affectione  chi  le  . . . 

. forte 

affaticarmi.” 

Ce  feuillet  est  termine  par  un  trace  d’un  vinculus. 

Au  recto  de  la  feuille  5“®,  qui  n’est  pas  numerotee,  on 
ne  trouve  que  sept  lignes  ecrites  en  latin  avec  un  intituU 
qu’il  est  difficile  de  dechiffrer. 

Le  recto  de  la  sixieme  et  derniere  feuille  detachee  se 
trouve  vide,  mais  le  verso  est  occupe  par  une  figure 
( schemata ) qui  se  rapporte  ii  la  formation  de  la  Terre. 

Yoici  main  tenant  la  description  du  texte  de  cette  col- 
lection dont  Tecriture  est  tres  serree,  mais  tres  lisible,  avec 
des  remarques  et  des  corrections  qu’on  dechiffre  quelque- 
fois  difficilement. 

Le  premier  opuscule  n’a  pas  de  titre  separe,  il  est  com- 
pose de  15  f.  et  commence  par  ces  mots : 

“ Antequam  de  Magia,  sicut  antequam  de  quocunque 
subiecto  disseratur,  nomen  in  sua  significata  est  divi- 
dendum.  . . . 

“Magus  I.°  sumitur  pro  sapiente,  cuiusmodi  erant  Tri- 
megisti  apud  iEgyptios,  Druidm  apud  Gallos,  Gymnoso- 
phistse  apud  Indos.  . . 

Suivent  neuf  definitions  de  la  Magie,  c.-a-d.  des  sciences 
naturelles,  physiques.  Au  recto  de  la  8®  f.  on  trouve  un 
chapitre  intitule : 

“ De  Motu  rerum  duplicj,  et  attractione : Duplex  est 
rerum  motus.  ISTaturalis  et  prseter  naturalis.  . . .”  (Les 
deux  derniers  mots  ont  remplace : violentus  qui  est  biffe), 
etc.  Au  recto  de  la  9®  f.  un  autre  chapitre  est  intitule : 

“ Quomodo  Magnes  trahat  ferrum,  corralium  sanguinem, 
etc.  Ex  istis  sequitur  ratio,  quam  magnes  secundum  genus 
attrahit : Porro  attractio  est  duplex : qusedam  ex  consensu, 
ut  quando  partes  moventur  ad  suum  totum : locata  ad 
suum  locum,  similia  rapiuntur  h similibus,  et  convenientia 
a convenientibus.  . . .” 


343 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


Sur  le  verso  de  la  I le  f.  le  troisieme  chap,  est 
intitule : 

“ De  vinculis  Spirituum.  Supra  dictum  est  spiritus 
alios  crassiorem,  alios  subtiliorem  incolere  materiam.” 

Sur  le  verso  de  la  f.  1 2e  le  quatribme  chap,  est 
intitule  : 

“ De  Analogici  spirituum.  Porphirius,  Plotinus  et  alii 
Platonici  ita  spiritibus  corpora  distribuunt.  . . .” 

On  y trouve  f.  14  r.  une  citation  de  7 vers  de  Vir- 
gile : “ Principio  coelum  et  terras  camposque  liquentes,” 
etc.  . . . (iEn.  vi.  724—30)  confrontes  avec  la  Bible: 

“ Idem  dicit  sensus  Sacrorum  arcanorum  ab  omni  vulgo 
receptus  ut  in  Psalmo  et  in  Libro  Sapientise  Spiritus 
Domini  replevit  orbem  terrarum  et  hoc  quod  continet 
omnia : et  alibi : Coelum  et  terram  ego  impleo.” 

Le  traite  finit  au  recto  de  la  f.  1 5®  par  ces  mots : 

“ Prseter  hsec  generalia  vincula  sunt  quie  in  1 7 arti- 
culis  ex  Alberti  doctrina  colliguntur  quorum  quaedum 
sunt  relata  quantum  referenda  supersunt.” 

Le  verso  de  la  f.  est  laisse  en  blanc.  Sur  la  f.  suivante 
commence  la  traite  intituld : 

“ De  Vinculis  Spirituum  et  primum  de  eo  quod  est  ex 
triplici  ratione  agentis  material  et  application^. ” Ce  titre 
est  ecrit  par-dessus  un  premier  titre  que  l’auteur  a biffe, 
mais  qui  est  bien  lisible  : 

“ De  rationibus  quibus  alius  in  aliud  agit  et  ab  alio 
petiher.  Ad  hoc  ut  actiones  in  rebus  perficiantur  tria 
requiruntur.  Potentia  activa  in  agente,  potentia  passiva 
in  subiecto.  . . .” 

Sur  le  verso  de  la  f.  1 7®  on  lit : 

“ Secundum  vinculum  ex  voce  et  cantu.  IIa  vinculi  ratio 
est  a conformitate  numerorum  ad  numeros,  mensurie  ad 
mensuram,  momenti  ad  momentum,  unde  illj  rythmj 
atque  cantus  qui  maximam  habere  efficaciam  perhiben- 
tur.  . . .” 

18.  f.  v. : “ Tertium  vincidorum  genus  ex  visu.  Per 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


349 


visum  etiam  vincitur  spiritus  ut  passim  quoque  superius 
est  antedictum,  dum  formae  aliter  atque  aliter  ante  oculos 
obversantur,  bine  fascinationes  activae  et  passivae  ab 
oculis  proficiscuntur,  et  per  oculos  ingrediuntur  unde 
illud : Nescio  quis  oculis  teneros  mihi  fascinat  agnos.  . . .” 

1 9.  f.  r.  “ Quartum  vinculum  est  ex  Phantasm.”  Ce 
dernier  mot  a remplace  : Imaginations,  que  l’auteur  a biffe. 
“ Cuius  quidem  munus  est  recipere  species  a sensibus  de- 
latas  et  continere  et  componere  eas  et  dividere,  quod 
quidem  _accidit  dupliciter  uno  pacto  ex  arbitrio  vel 
electione  imaginantis,  quale  est  poetarum  et  pictorum 
munus.  . . 

F.  20.  v.  “ De  vinculo  quinto  quocl  est  ex  Cogitativis. 
Vinculum  Phantasiae  leve  per  se  est,  si  vinculum 
Cogitativae,  vires  non  conduplicet,  ea  enim  spectra,  quibus 
Idiotae,  stulti,  creduli  et  superstiosioris  ingenii  animum 
devinciunt  et  obligant,  deridentur,  contemnuntur  et  veluti 
inanes  umbrae  & sobrio  et  bene  nato  et  disciplinatio 
ingenio.  . . 

Ce  traite  finit  sur  le  verso  de  la  f.  21  par  ces  mots : 
“ et  haec  de  vinculis  in  genere  dicta  sint.  Finis.” 

F.  22.  r.  Le  traite  qui  suit  ne  porte  pas  de  titre ; il 
commence  ainsi : “ Magi  a sumitur  multipliciter : Com- 
munissime,  communiter,  proprie  et  propriissime. 

“ 1°  modo  pro  omnj  genere  scientiae  et  sapientiae : 

“ II0  Pro  scientia  naturalj,  seu  rerum  naturalium  in 
genere. 

“ 111°  Pro  sapientia,  quae  complectitur  triplex  genus 
scientiarum  realium  cum  triplici  moralium,  et  triplici 
rationalium.  ( Ethic . Polit.  Qlconom. — Logica : Metaphys. 
Mathem } 

“IV°  Pro  aggregato  habitu  ex  omnibus  bis  vel  pluri- 
bus,  cum  facultate  mirabiliter  cognoscendi  vel  operandi, 
et  hoc  dupliciter  vel  per  se  vel  per  aliud : et  hoc  trip- 


1 Note  marginale. 


350 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


liciter,  vel  per  superiora,  vel  per  aequalia,  vel  per  in- 
ferioria.  . . . 

“ Magia  est  triplex : Divina,  Physica  et  Mathema- 
tica.  . . . 

“ Magia  Mathematica  media  est  inter  Divinam  et  Phy- 
sicam  Magiam,  sicut  mathematica  media  simpliciter  est 
inter  Naturalem  et  Methaphysicam.  . . 

P.  22.  v.  “ Principium  Magiae  est  considerare  ordinem 
influxus  seu  scalam  entium,  qua  Deum  in  deos,  deos  in 
astra,  astra  in  daemonas,  daemones  in  elementa,  elementa 
in  mista.  ( aliquid  immittere  comperimus ).”  1 

F.  23.  r.  “ Hanc  mundi  distinctionem,  iuxta  tria  prae- 
dicta  significata,  comprobant  Natuile  Veritas,  Eatio, 
et  Divina  Eevelatio.  i um  quia  nihil  est  in  mundo  sensibili 
quod  ab  archetypo  non  dependeat.  Secundum  quia  nihil 
est  in  intentione  quod  non  sit  in  rebus  fundamentaliter. 
Distingue  fundamentaliter  et  realiter,  fundamentaliter 
secundae  intentiones,  realiter  ut  primae.  Tertium  quia 
veritas  veritati  non  contradicit  et  multoties  haec  distinctio 
in  divinis  libris  reperitur.” 

F.  24.  r.  “ Anima  per  se  et  immediate  non  est  obligata 
corpori,  sed  mediante  spiritu.  . . 

F.  26.  r.  “ De  attractione  vero  magnetis  a polo,  variae 
sunt  sententiae,  nos  tamen  omnibus  bisce  praetermissis 
earn  eius  rei  rationem  probamus  quae  non  est  ab  attrac- 
tione similis  speciei  nempe  quod  illinc  sint  montes  mag- 
netis, haec  enim  causa  effectus  iste  non  sequitur,  sed 
universam  rationem  ac  firmam  ex  contrarii  fuga  esse 
asserimus  et  antipathiam  quandam  quam  babet  ad  loca, 
opposita.  (Rationes  sunt  in  XXIII  articulo.)  ” 

Ce  traite  finit  au  v.  de  la  f.  32  par  ces  mots : “ . . . 
unde  fortasse  amor  k Platonicis  daemon  magnus  est 
appellatus.  Finis." 

Au  recto  de  la  f.  33  commence  le  traitd  intituld : 

1 Note  marginale. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


3Si 


De  Rerum  Principiis  et  Elementis  et  Causis. 

Bruno  a inscrit  au  haut  de  la  marge  de  cette  f.  la  date 
de  la  composition  de  ce  traite:  “A0  1590  i6Martij  D.” 

Le  traite  commence  ainsi : “ Rerum  causae  efficientes, 
et  moventes,  sunt  intellectus  et  anima  supra  quibus  est 
principium  Unum  absolutum,  mens,  seu  veritas.  . . 

F.  34.  r.  “ De  Luce  et  Igne.  Lux  est  substantia  spiri- 
tualis,  insensibilis  per  se.  . . Sur  le  v.  de  la  meme  f. 
une  importante  reclame  sur  le  Ie  Chap,  de  la  Genese. 

F.  3 6.  v.  “ De  Aere  seu  Spiritu.  Spiritus  subinde  est 
quredam  substantia  per  se  mobilis,  unde  motus  corporibus 
compositis  et  sensibilibus  loculis  omnis  emanat.  . . 

F.  38.  r.  “ De  Aqua:  Quod  diximus  de  spiritu  in  IIa 
significatione  universum  ad  aquam  possumus  referre.  . . 

F.  39.  r.  “ De  Terra.  Terra  est  elementum  solidissi- 
mum,  simplicissimum,  unde  soliditatem  habere  corpora 
communiter  existimatur.  Hinc  non  accipimus  terram, 
pro  hoc  globo  animali,  unde  vitam,  nutrimentum  et  cor- 
pus nacti  sumus,  quam  unum  ex  astris  atque  planetam 
intelligimus  partibus  consistens  proportionalibus.  . . .” 

F.  40.  r.  “ De  Tempore.  Ad  complementum  istius  per- 
tractationis  maximum  et  preecipuum  negotium  et  ut 
videtur  totius  rei  forma  est,  temporis  habere  rationem, 
actionis  (?)  enim  turn  naturales,  turn  voluntarise,  certa 
quadam  vicissitudine  et  ordine  veniunt  ut  sensibus  ipsis 
est  manifestum.  . . 

Suit  une  fig.  explicative  sur  le  verso  de  la  meme  f. 
inseree  dans  le  texte  : I.  Annus  Cceli,  II.  Ann.  Telluris  © 
is.  III.  Annus  circumferential  telluris  diei.  Sur  le  recto 
de  la  f.  41  au  bas  de  la  marge  se  trouve  une  remarque 
avec  un  signe  qui  la  rapporte  au  texte  avec  une  multi- 
plication de  30  (jours)  par  12  (mois)  = 360,  puis  51^- 
suivi  de  ces  mots  peu  lisibles : “ Post  inventum  cogita  an 
mens  hie  sit  Nolani  (?).”  Sur  le  verso  de  la  meme  f.  on 
trouve  une  figure  astrologique. 


352 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


F.  42.  r.  Sur  la  marge  un  renvoi  sur  son  livre  “ De 
Umbris  I diear  urn  ” et  sur  Corn.  Agrippa,  de  occultu  philos. 

F.  43.  r.  fig.  astrologique : “11°.  Animadvertendum 
quidem  et  signa  et  reliquie  imagines  coelestes  et  mansio- 
nes  ]) ae.  . . .”  Plus  bas  sur  la  marge  est  inscrit : “NB. 
“ Eationes  dc  nominationibus  Planetarum.” 

Sur  le  verso  de  la  rneme  f.  un  autre  NB.  qui  renvoie 
sur:  “ Ptolomseus,  Julius  Firmicus,  Guido  Bonatus,  Alca- 
bitius : significations  breviss.  lib.  Planet.,  Aratus,  Cusanus, 
Thomae  (Aquin.)  ” 

F.  44.  r.  “ De  Yirtute  et  Yitiis  Signorum  et  Pla- 
netarum SINGULORUM  nempe  luce  et  tenebris,  quibas  singuli 
definiuntur  (?).  Ad  banc  doctrinam  spectat  considerare 
qusedam  ubique  sunt  in  mundo  corporeo  et  in  his  quie 
circa  corpora  sunt  bona  admista  malis,  et  malis.  bona 
sicut  nusquam  est  materia  sine  forma  neque  forma  sine 
materia  in  pbysicis,  actus  sine  potentia,  potentia  sine  actu, 
lux  sine  tenebris  et  tenebrse  sine  luce.  . . .” 

On  voit  sur  le  verso  une  figure : “ in  qua  suo  ordine 
Planetarum  circa  fortunas  distribuendas  ordo  insinuatur 
in  annui  circuli  peripheria  ’5’  planetarum  nomina.  . . .” 
F.  45.  r.  “ De  Virtute  Loci.”  L’auteur  cite  l’histoire 
sacrce  et  l’histoire  profane  en  faveur  de  la  vertu  occulte 
de  certains  lieux,  particuliferement  des  montagnes. 

F.  46.  v.  et  47.  r.  “ De  Virtute  Nominum.  Ad  hiec 
etiam  principia  pertinet  considerare  vim  magnam  insitam 
esse  in  nominibus,  cum  quorum  virtute  fortunam  et  statum 
rei  nominate  eurrere  existimant,  proptereaque  cum  nomi- 
num mutatione  convenire  mutationem  fortume  vel  genii 
plurimi  affirmant,  hoc  credidisse  Hebrseos,  Grcecos  et 
alias  gentes  per  edita  est  valde  manifestum  im  vero  his 
(hi  ?)  qui  magis  religioni  et  fidei  sunt  addicti  et  qui  Deum 
nihil  perperam  facere  habent  pro  principio  et  axiomate, 
non  sine  causa  pluribus  patribus  nomina  mutasse  con- 
cionantur,  mutatum  fuit  enim  nomen  Abrahami,  et  dicunt 
Cabalistse  in  virtute  unius  litterae  H ilium  acquisivisse 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


353 


facultatem  generandi : Idem  dicunt  quod  cum  deberet 
Jacob  praeesse  fratri  et  gentibus  per  benedictionem  et 
primogenituram,  mutatum  fuisse  eius  nomen  in  Israelem, 
item  de  Isaac,  de  Saraj  in  Saram,  in  volumine  item  Chris- 
tianorum  invenimus  Christum  Simonem  Galliheum  ap- 
pellasse  Petrum,  item  Cepliam : Saulem  quoque  cum  in 
vas  electionis  vellet  promovere  mutato  nomine  appellavit 
ilium  Paulum.  Observant  hoc  plurimse  Cbristianorum 
sectse,  ut  cum  de  Laicis  recipiuntur  in  numerum  cucul- 
latorum,  vel  de  clericis  in  numerum  Pontificum  perperam 
nomina  mutant,  solum  sequendo  consuetudinem  nominis 
non  rationem.  Eomani  pontifices  sorte  quadem  proiecta 
(ut  referunt)  nomina  sibi  deligere  ex  decreto  debent,  pro- 
hibitum ne  quis  nomine  Petri  intituletur,  metuunt  enim 
sub  illo  nomine  exitium.  . . 

F.  48.  r.  et  v.  “ De  Numero  et  Mensura”  qui  constitue 
le  dernier  chap,  de  ce  traite.  Nous  citons  le  commence- 
ment : “Praeter  rationem  temporis  quo  omnia  distribuuntur, 
elargiuntur,  quod  Salomon  etiam  ad  7 capita  redegit  cum 
dixit : Omnia  tempus  habent  et  suis  spaciis  transeunt 
universa  sub  ©e  subdidit  7 Contradictoria  cum  14  mem- 
bris,  tempus  gaudendi,  tempus  tristandi,  tempus  eolligendi, 
spargendi,  &c.  Et  Christus  dixit  se  plenitudine  tem- 
poris venisse  cum  premeretur  ab  adversariis  dixit : hsec 
dies  vestra  et  potestas  tenebrarum.  Cum  aufugisset  a 
volentibus  eum  lapidare  nec  multo  postquam  ad  eos  iterum 
redire  vellet,  objicientibus  discipulis  nunc  volebant  te 
lapidare  et  vis  reverti,  Pespondit  nonne  1 2 horae  sunt 
diei : Ubi  nihil  apertius  quam  quod  non  omnis  hora  dat 
omnia  et  eadem  sed  varia  varise.  . . 

Le  traite  finit  par  ces  mots : “ Et  haec  sunt  praecipua 
capita  circa  quae  oportet  meditari,  aggregare  universalia, 
exercere  actum  contemplationis  et  applicare  praxes  eum 
qui  plene  magiam  vult  in  pristinum  et  nobilissimum 
statum  instaurare.  Et  de  his  satis."’ 

F.  49.  r.  “ Medicina  Lulliana  partim  ex  Mathematicis, 

z 


354 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


partim  ex  Physicis  principiis  cducta,  Jideliter  collecta  per 
nos,  niliilo  propter  et  extra  intentionern  adducto,  addito  neque 
diminuto.” 

§ i . r.  “ Intentio  nostra  est  non  tam  vulgari  more 
principia  medicinse  quam  praxi  proxima  snnt  adducere, 
quam  artem  Lullii  illam  generalem  ad  omnes  scientias  et 
facultates  ita  limitare  et  modificare  iuxta  ejus  intentiones, 
ut  quilibet  facile  in  verse  medicinse  totius  cognitionem 
venire  possit.” 

Ce  traitd  remplit  I 5 f.  On  y trouve  sur  le  recto  de  la 
3e  f.  une  espece  de  calendrier  Medico- Astrologique  figure 
dans  plusieurs  cercles  concentriques  dont  celui  du  milieu 
tourne  sur  son  centre. 

Sur  le  recto  de  la  66e  f.  commence  un  traite  qui  rem- 
plit 17b  II  n’a  pas  de  titre  et  commence  par  ces  mots : 

1 . “ Influit  Deus  in  angelos,  angeli  in  corpora  coelestia, 
coelestia  in  elementa,  elementa  in  mixta,  mixta  in  sensus, 
sensus  in  animum,  animus  in  animal.” 

Le  sujet  de  ce  traitd  se  rapporte  directement  a la  Kab- 
bale.  Une  serie  de  bons  et  de  mauvais  anges  avec  leurs 
uome  se  rattache  aux  mois,  aux  jours,  aux  saisons  et  meme 
aux  lieux  : “ de  Principibus  locorum  ” et  de  Ducibus  deter- 
minatum  locum  non  habantibus,  &c.  Sur  le  recto  de  la 
f.  76  se  trouve  colle  un  petit  morceau  de  papier  portant 
en  gros  caracteres  le  nom  d 'Abihail,  par-dessus  un  § in- 
titule de  Ignis  potentia,  nec  non  Terrce  Aquce  et  Aeris. 
L’auteur  se  refere  dans  quelques  endroits  sur  Dionyse 
l’Areopagite,  sur  Albert  le  Gd  et  sur  Corn.  Agrippa. 

Le  traite  finit  par  ces  mots : “ . . . quod  si  qui  libros 
maiores  inscripsisse  videatur,  ipsum  est  qua  extranea  et 
ad  rem  minus  facientia  plurimum  immiscuere  fortasse  ut 
artem  minus  perviam  facerent,  quod  nos  fecisse  potuimus. 
Finis.” 

La  f.  83  est  en  blanc.  Suit  (sur  un  papier  d’un  format 
un  peu  plus  petit)  le  traitd  intitule : 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


355 


JORDANI  BRVNI  NoLANI 
DE  VINCULIS  IN  GENERE. 

On  voit  vis-a-vis  de  ce  titre,  au  haut  de  da  page, 
devant  le  nom  de  hauteur,  son  monogramme : la  lettre  B 
renfermee  dans  la  lettre  G-,  c.-a-d.  Griordano  Bruno,  comme 
dans  l’exemplaire  de  I’Ars  magna  de  Lullius,  qui  a appar- 
tenu  a Bruno.  Le  traite  commence  par : 

“Ut  Eum  qui  vincire  debet,  necessarium  est  rerum 
quodammodo  universalem  rationem  habere,  ut  hominem 
qui  Epilogus  quidam  omnium  est  aleat  alligare,  quando- 
quidem  ut  alibi  diximus,  in  hac  potissimum  specie,  rerum 
omnium  species  maxime  per  numeros  licet  intueri,  ut 
eorum  alii  referuntur  ad  pisces,  alii  ad  aves,  ad  serpentes, 
alii  ad  reptilia,  turn  secundum  genus,  turn  secundum 
eorum  species.  Singulis  item  horum  accidit  diversitas 
Usus,  Consuetudinis,  Finis,  Inclinationis,  Complexionis, 
BEtatis,  atque  ita  ut  de  Prothes  fingunt  atque  Acheloo, 
eandem  licet  subjectam  materiam  in  varias  formas  atque 
figuras  transmigrantem,  ut  continue  ad  vinciendum  aliis 
atque  aliis  et  nodorum  utendum  sit  speciebus.  Hue 
spectat  quod  consideratio  de  moribus  hominum,  nunc 
Juvenum,  nunc  Senum,  nunc  Mediorum,  ISTobilium,  Divi- 
tum,  Potentum,  Fortunatorum,  quibus  adde  mores  Invi- 
dorum,  Ambitiosorum  Militum,  Mercatorum,  et  id  genus 
aliorum,  quando  et  tales  in  Beipub.  administrationem 
plerisque  in  partibus  assumuntur,  vel  talibus  etiam  opus 
sit  mediis  et  instrumentis,  quos  propterea  vincire  sibi 
etiam  oporteat.  Nihil  tandem  esse  videtur,  quod  a Civili 
speculatione,  sub  forma  huiusce  consyderationis  (quatenus 
vel  vinciunt,  vel  vinciuntur,  vel  vincula  qusedam  sunt, 
vel  horum  circumstantiae)  possit  esse  alienum.  Qua- 
propter  adiecimus  hanc  considerationem,  quae  de  Vinculo 
in  Genere  intitulatur.” 

Cette  citation  explique  sommairement  le  sujet  de  la 
premiere  partie  du  Traite,  divise  en  XXX.  articles. 


356 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


On  trouve  sur  le  recto  cle  la  f.  85,  une  octave  Italienne 
a la  suite  de  l’article  IX.  ainsi  que  suit : 

“ Ut  idem  eodem  contrariis  alligat.”  “ Confusa  et 
quodammodo  etiam  contraria  videntur  esse  vincientia  ab 
eodem  etiam  vincientis  genere,  ubi  contrarii  vinculorum 
effectus  et  affectus  inspiciuntur,  quem  enim  (verbi  gratia) 
Cupidinis  vincula  invaserint,  uno  eodemque  igne,  atque 
laquei  sensu,  videbitur  cogi  ad  exclamandurn,  et  tacendum, 
Iseticiam,  tristitiam,  spem  et  desperationem,  timorem  et 
audaciam,  iram  et  mansuetudinem,  lletum  et  risum,  unde 
illud : 

“ Io  che  porto  d’amor  l’alto  vessillo, 

Gelate  ho  speme  e li  desir  corenti.1 
A un  tempo,  aggliiaccio  et  treino,  ardo'et  sfavillo, 

E muto  (e)  colmo  il  ciel  de  strida  ardenti. 

D’al  cuor  scintillo,  et  da  gli  occlii  acqua  stillo. 

Et  vivo  et  muoio  et  fo  risa  et  lamenti. 

Ho  vive  l’acqui  et  l’incendio  lion  more, 

Che  han  Tlieti  h gli  occhi  et  ha  Yulcano  al  cuore.” 

La  seconde  partie  commence  sur  le  r.  de  la  f.  88. 
Elle  est  intitulbe  : “ De  vincibilibus  in  genere ,”  et  se  trouve 
divisbe  pareillement  en  30  articles;  elle  finit  sur  le  v.  de 
la  f.  go.  A la  f.  suivante  se  trouve  la  3“®  partie  inti- 
tule : “ De  vinculo  Cupidinis,  et  guodammodo  in  genere] ” 
de  meme  divisiie  en  30  articles,  mais  Bruno  n’a  pu  ter- 
miner ce  traitb ; il  s’arrete  a l’article  XXII.  dont  la  fin 
(f.  95.  r.)  est  brusquement  interrompue,  presque  au  com- 
mencement de  la  page,  comme  suit : 

“ Vinculorum  Gratia.  Ar.  XXII.” 

“ Gratitudinis  speciem  concupiscere  faciunt  Vincula, 
Oritur  quippe  (ut  in  uno  vinculorum  genere  inducam) 
inter  amantes  querela,  ubi  mutuo  alterum  alteri  debere 
prtesumunt,  judicat  amans  debitum  amatse,  ut  animam 
illi  ablutam  restituat,  ubi  in  proprio  corpore  mortuus  in 
alieno  vixit.  Si  amans  amatse  minus  blanditur,  queritur 

1 Cuocenti.  This  sonnet  is  No.  9 Eroici  Furori. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


357 


hsec  quasi  earn  ille  curet  minus,  queritur  amans  versus 
amatam  si.” 

Sur  le  recto  de  la  ire  f.  du  cahier  suivant  commence 
l’ouvrage  de  Bruno  mentionnd  dans  ses  ceuvres,  mais  qui 
n’a  pas  vu  le  jour : 


Liber  triginta  statuarum. 


Ce  titre  n’est  pas  inscrit  a la  tete  de  l’ouvrage,  mais 
il  s’annonce  de  suite  dans  le  texte  qui  commence  sans  inti- 
tule, comme  suit,  par  une  grande  lettre  initiate  A,  ou 
Bruno  a intercald  l’annee,  le  mois  et  le  jour  de  la  redac- 


tion de  l’ouvrage : 


I59i- 


YII  .1. 

o 


“ Animse  cibum  esse  veritatem,  utpote  quse  in  eius 
substantiam,  veluti  proprium  nutrimentum  transmutabilis 
est,  esse  constat.  Perfectio  et  finis  huius  nutrimenti  est 
Lumen  contemplationis,  quo  animus  noster  oculis  intelli- 
gentic©  primum  quidem  Solem  primse  veritatis,  deinde  ea 
quae  circa  ipsum  sunt  valet  intueri.  Inventio  particu- 
lariurn,  est  veluti  prima  cibi  apprsehensio : Collatio 
ipsorum  in  sensibus  externis  et  internis  est  veluti  digestio 
quredam:  Intelleetus  perfecta  informatio  est  tandem 
augmentum  perfectionis  nostras,  in  prassenti  statu,  ad 
quern  quasi  ad  animse  utilitatem  et  perfectam  consisten- 
tiam,  omnes  in  Natura  scire  desiderant  promoveri  con- 
cupiscunt : hoc  habitu  imbuti  et  istiusmodi  corroborati 
alimento,  in  ea  intelligimur  dispositione,  qua  per  artem,1  et 
scientiam  in  operibus  intelligentise  progredimur.  . . .”  p.  1. 

Le  texte,  divise  en  chapitres,  est  ecrit  en  doubles 
colonnes,  exceptd  les  introductions ; il  est  pagind  par 
l’auteur ; nous  indiquons  les  pages  dans  nos  citations. 

P.  2.  “ De  pluribus  investigandi  speciebus.”  A u ' j YI. 
de  la  colonne  de  ce  chap,  on  lit : “ Comparatur  multi- 
plicibus  methodi  speciebus  quam  explicavimus  in  Libro 
30  S igillorum.”  Et  le  § VIII.  de  la  meme  colonne  dit : 
“ Maxime  comparatur  Ratio  quam  in  prsesentia  tarctare 


1 Eroici  Furore,  W.  406. 


353 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


intentamus.”  Apres  quoi : “ Haec  quidem  constat  30 
statuis,  in  quibus  30  intentiones  continentur,  eo  quo 
videbitur  modo  explicandae,  sicut  quidem  generalis,  ut 
esse  debeat,  specialissimis  autem  speciebus  magis  applica- 
biles,  quam  principia  Architica,  Aristoteliea  et  Lulliana, 
quibus  quam  melius  informetur  Eatio,  aliorum  esto 
iudicium.” 

P.  4.  “ Ordo  erit  procedendi  a notioribus  nominibus, 
sensibilibus  et  phantasiabilibus,  ad  intelligibilia,  et  con- 
templabilia,  universalia,  quae  sunt  Causae  et  Eationes 
omnium  particularium,  et  ideo  ab  iisdem  tanquam  a 
Causis  et  principiis,  facillimo  negotio  media  desumere 
licebit : Sensibilia  erunt  figuratae  species,  et  opera  phan- 
tasiae,  et  imaginantis  fabrefactae,  per  quas,  subinde 
volumus  ea,  quae  k sensu  sunt  remotiora,  significari : 
Itaque  usum  atque  formant  antiquae  philosophiae,  et 
priscorum  Theologorum  revocabimus,  quo  nimirum  arcana 
Naturae  ejusmodi  typis,  et  similitudinibus,  non  tantum 
velare  consueverunt,  quantum  declarare,  explicate,  in 
seriem  digerere,  et  faciliorj  memoriae  retentionj  accomo- 
dare.  Statuam  quippe  sensibilem,  visibilem,  imaginabilem, 
cum  eadern  ratione  sensibilius  appositis  facillime  retine- 
mus,  fabulas  effinctas  levissimo  negotio  memoriae  com- 
mendamus,  mysteria,  consequenter  doctrinas,  et  disciplinales 
intentiones  per  easdem  significabiles,  istorum  suffragio, 
consequenter  considerare  omnem  citra  difficultatem : Non 
ergo  huius  docendi  rationis  primi  sumus  inventores,  sed 
forte  in  hoc  tempore,  qualecunque  sit  ipsum,  exuscitatores, 
ut  natura  comparatum  est,  ut  vicissitudine  quadam  sibi 
succedant,  non  solum  Tenebrae  atque  Lux  varia  philoso- 
phandi  gratia.  Neque  enim  novum  est  quod  dicit 
Aristoteies  in  lib.  de  Coelo.  Necesse  est  easdem  opiniones 
atque  sensus  certis  statutisque  regulis  redire.  Jam  ergo 
quasi  per  Umbram  atque  titulum,  per  haec  intentio, 
Utilitas  modus  et  ratio  procedendi  explicata  sit.  Quod 
superest,  ad  ea  quae  ad  substantiam  rei  pertinent,  acceda- 
” Suivent : 


mus : . 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


359 


P.  5.  “ De  tribus  informibus,  et  infigurabilibus.  Ipsa 
sunt  Chaos.  Orcus  et  Nox : Ex  quibus  Chaos  signifieat 
Vacuum ; Orcus  passivam,  seu  reeeptivam  potentiam ; 
Nox,  Materiam.” 

“ Dc  Chaos  1°  Infigurabili  . . . Ipsius  30  sunt  arti- 
culi : . . (Tous  les  chap,  sont  divises  en  30  articles.) 

P.  9.  “ Dc  11°  informi,  Oreo  sive  Abysso.” 

P.  13.  “ De  III0  infigurabili , puta  de  Node,  seu  Tene- 
bris.” 

P.  15*  “ De  Nodis  Statua.” 

P.  1 7.  “ De  opposita  superna  Triade,  puta,  Plenitudinis 
seu  Mentis  innominabilis,  et  incircumscriptibilis,  Apollinis 
Universali,  et  Spiritus  seu  lucis.” 

“ Quemadmodum  ab  infernis  est  Chaos,  Orcus  et  ISTox, 
ita  ab  supernis  est  Plenitudo,  Idccarum  fons,  et  Lux.” 

“ De  Patre  seu  Mente,  seu  Plenitudine.” 

“ Statua  quidem  Patris  nulla  est,  Typus  tamen  ipsius 
est  Lux  infinita,  in  qua  tria  concurrunt ; ut  undique  et 
ubique  sit  sol.  . . 

P.  20.  “ De  primo  intellectu.” 

P.  25.  “ De  Lumine,  seu  Spiritu  TJniversi.  Sicut  a 
centro  plenitudinis  prodit  lux,  h luce  fulgor  : Ita  a mente 
processit  Intellectus,  ab  intellectu  procedit  Affectus  qui- 
dam  seu  Amor.  Mens  super  omnia  videt  et  distribuit : 
Amor  omnia  fabrificat  et  disponit : Mens  dum  sui  quo- 
dammodo  meminit,  similitudinem  quodammodo  apprae- 
hendit,  quae  est  verbum  suum,  principium  prcedicans  et 
referens ; ex  qua  relatione  et  eonceptione,  prodit  pulcliri- 
tudinis  illius  amor:  Mox  ad  secundi  Universi  constitu- 
tionem,  primus  intellectus  concipit  sui  idseam,  et  in 
simplici  ilia  specie  idseas  universorum,  quarum  specie 
delectatus,  quasi  calore  quodam  percitas  spiritum  producit, 
qui  ab  eo  procedit,  veluti  a luce  fulgur,  bic  sane  fulgur 
implet  universa,  in  omnia  se  totus  diffundit,  et  sicut  in- 
tellectus intelligit  omnia  in  omnibus  : ita  iste  affectat 
omnia  in  omnibus : operatur  omnia  in  omnibus : unde 


j6o 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


anima  muncli  dicitur,  et  spiritus  Universorum : quem  30 
conditionibus  alioqui  infigurabilem  denotemus  : . . 

P.  28.  “ Epilogus  clictorum.” 

P.  29.  “ I)c  Apolline,  et  Monade  seu  Unitate.”  Vis-a- 
vis  a la  marge  : “ Or  do  Secundus.” 

P.  31.  “ De  Batumi  Statua,  et  Principio.” 

P.  34.  “ De  Statua  Promethei : Causa  efficient e.” 

P.  36.  “ Dc  Officina  Vulcani,  seu  de  30  formce  condi- 
tionibus vel  rationibus.” 

P.  3 8.  “ De  Statua  Vidcani,  vel  formce  propriis  distinc- 
tionihus  et  definitionibus .” 

P.  41.  “ De  Thetidis  Statua,  seu  de  Subjecto.” 

P.  45.  “Statua  Sagittarii  pro  explications  Causes 
finalis.” 

P.  47.  “ De  Monte  Olympo,  ad  describendas  omnes  seu 
universas  finis  Significationes.” 

P.  49.  “ Or  do  tertius.  . . . De  Campo  Coelii,  Bonitate 
Naturali.” 

P.  51.  “ De  Campo  Vestce,  seu  Bono  Morali.” 

P.  5 2.  “ De  Campo  Oceani,  seu  Magnitudine .” 

P.  5 4.  “ De  Statua  Martis,  seu  Virtutis.” 

P.  55 . J‘  De  Campo  Telluris,  seu  de  Potential’ 

P.  57-  “ De  Campo  lunonis,  seu  Medio!’ 

P.  59.  “ De  Momorgene,  hoc  est  Habitudine,  seu  Rela- 
tione!’ 

P.  61.  “ Explicatio  Cornu  Aelieloi,  seu  de  Habere.” 
P.63.  “ De  Campo  Minervce,  seu  de  Noticia.” 

P.  65.  “ De  Schala  Minervce , seu  de  Habitibus  Cogni- 
tionis.” 

P.  67.  “ De  Campo  Veneris,  hoc  est,  de  Concordia .” 

P.  69.  “ De  Veneris  Statua,  Concordia  in  Voluntate.” 
Ce  chapitre  est  separb  & l’article  XIX.  par  un  titre  parti- 
culier  : “ Sequuntur  rationes  proprice  rationalibus  et  intel- 
lectualibus.” 

P.  71.  “ Tela  seu  nodi  Cupidinis,  Concordia  inadione.” 
“ De  Statua,  et  membris  Cupidinis  seu  differ entiis  volun- 
tatis.” 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS.  361 

P.  74.  “ De  jpelle  Amaltheae  caprcc.  Diversitatis  signi- 
ficationibus.” 

P.  75.  “ I)e  Campo  Litis.  Contrarietatis  conditionibus .” 
P.  76.  “ De  Campo  DEonos,  seu  JEternitatis.” 

P.  78.  “ Ik  Application  Triginta  Statuarum.  Prime 
de  Applicatione  sex  infigurabilium.” 

P.  80.  “ De  ratione  prcedicatorum  communicabilium , 
diversis  Schalce  gradibus.” 

“ De  quatuor  infimis  simplicibus.” 

P.  81.  “ De  quatuor  prope  simplicibus.” 

“ De  tribus  generibus  imperfede  incompositorum,  hoc  est 
mixtorum.” 

“ De  tribus  perfede  compositis.” 

“ De  Quinque  animalium  generibus .” 

P.  82.  “ De  Imperfectis  conpositis  prope  lucem,  seu  plcni - 
tudinem.” 

“ De  pefede  compositis  prope  lucem.” 

P.  83.  “ De  iis  quce  sunt  prope  simplicia.” 

P.  84.  “ De  substantiae,  pura , et  simplici.  . . . Sequitur 
arbor  substantise  ” (figure  sur  la  page  suivante). 

P.  8 6.  “ De  explicata  Schala  prcedicatorum,  seu,  attri- 
butorum  Substantiae , et  Naturae,  universaliter  didce  ” 
(divisb  en  cinq  parties). 

P.  90.  “ De  Constituenda  Arbore,  pro  captanda  distinc- 
tiore  horum,  terminorum  definitione  ” (figure  sur  la  page 
suivante). 

P.  gi.  “ De  Statuis  didionum  ...  sit  ergo  I Statua 
Athlantis.” 

“In  15  geminas  partes  divisa  seu  distributa,  ita  ut  30  membris 
distinguatur,  quorum  Dextrum  sit  membrum  Lucis,  sinistrum  Tene- 
brarum  : Alterum  inquam  perfections  Rationis,  Alterum  imperfec- 
tions. NB.  I Gygas  eius  dextra  pertinet  ad  IIm  Gygantem.  . . .” 

. . . Tabula  statute  distindionis : . . . 

P.  94.  “ De  statua  Typhonis.” 

P.  95.  “ De  tribus  Gygantum  hypostasibus,  in  quibus 
triplex  sequens  distindionum  genus  significatur.” 

P.  96.  “ Primum  Genus  in  Persona  Cereri  Gygantis.” 
P.  98.  11  De  Hypostasi  Alchionei.” 


362 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


P.  99.  “ Dc  Polypoetis  hypostasi.” 

P.  1 00.  “ Dc  Applicatione  Artis  inventivce  et  indica- 
tives, explicata  in  30  statuarum  vocibus.” 

P.  I o I . “ Utilitas  Lampadis  hums  ad  alias.” 

“ Dc  distinctions  ministeriorum  spedantium  ad  diver sa 
membra  30  statuarum.” 

P.  103.  “ De  Praxi  inventionis  per  preedida.”  Divise 
en  cinq  parties,  la  derniere  est  intitulee  “ Dc  Casibus 
definitionis  . . . Pxcmpla  quorundam  definibilium.” 

P.  109.  On  lit  a la  fin:  “Quid  est  Calamus?  Est 
instrumentum  seu  organum  artificiale,  ad  delineandum 
seu  designandum  ea,  quae  sunt  in  Voce,  seu  dictiones 
vocales,  vel  aliquid  aliud  huiuscemodi  notandum  et  pin- 
gendum,  quod  si  lubet  addere  materiam,  dicas  ex  avis 
pluma,  vel  canna.  Finis!’ 

Ce  11’est  pourtant  pas  la  fin  de  l’ouvrage.  A la  page 
suivante  on  trouve  le  chapitre  Dc  rations  verificandi  seu 
enunciandi,  qui  finit  a la  p.  1 1 3 par  ces  mots  : “ Utrumque 
perfecimus,  et  tuas  intellectus  operationes  sufficientissime 
regulavimus,”  termine  par  “ Finis.” 

Ce  n’est  pas  non  plus  la  fin : a la  page  suivante  (1 14) 
on  trouve  le  chapitre  “ De  tertia  et  ultima  praxi,”  qui 
est  d’une  grande  importance,  parce  qu’on  y trouve  le 
mode  de  proc^der  dans  Implication  de  la  doctrine  de 
Bruno  espose  dans  ce  livre  dont  le  vrai  titre  est,  comme 
nous  le  verrons  : “Ars  inventiva  per  triginta  Statuas.” 
E11  voici  quelques  citations  (pp.  1 14— I 2 1)  : 

“ . . . Per  exemplum : Homo  est  substantia  composita 
ex  intellectuali  et  materiali,  media  inter  superiorem  et 
inferiorem  Naturam,  et  nexus  utriusque.  Ideo  Unitas 
illi  non  convenit  secundum  rationem  absoluti,  simplicis, 
sed  contracti  et  compositi,  coordinati  conspirantium  par- 
tium  et  cseteris  consequentibus  rationibus : sicut  ergo  est 
unum  ita  et  est  magnum,  ita  potens,  ita  cognoscens,  utpote 
habet  magnitudinem  intelligibilem,  et  sensibilem  poten- 
tiam,  materialem  et  immaterialem,  cognitionem  secundum 
sensum  et  intellectum,  itaque  de  caeteris  praedicatis 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


3 63 


utpote  de  contrarietate,  concordia,  differentiis  et  cseteris. 
lam  de  homine  quidlibet  possumus  demonstrare,  quod 
vere  illi  convenit  per  quodlibet  aliud.  Yel  si  sophistice 
procedendo  volumus  falso  demonstrare;  ejus  definitionem 
alteremus  oportet,  ut  appellando  hominem  tantummodo 
illam  internam  naturam,  si  de  ipso  magnified  sentire 
volumus,  vel  animalem  tantum  partem,  nihil  illi  supra 
bestiis  attribuentes,  si  de  ipso  perperam  iudicare  volumus. 

“ Jam  ut  exemplum  unum  accipiamus,  quo  per  propo- 
sita  principia  discurrendo  de  aliqua  re  discurramus,  pro- 
ponatur  nobis : 


Anima  non  est  accidens. 


I.  Omne  accidens  ita  con- 
tinetur  a subjecto,  ut  non 
possit  esse  a subjecto. 

Anima  vero  potius  con- 
tinet  subjectum : quia  om- 
nis  forma  naturalis  terminus 
est,  et  appellatur  et  est 
ratio  termini  (omne  accidens 
continetur  a subjecto). 

II.  Nullum  accidens  ab- 
solvitur  & subjecto,  et  reali- 
ter  existit  sine  subjecto. 

Omnis  forma  simplex  non 
extenta  ad  subjecti  exten- 
sionem  et  per  se  subsistens 
est  substantia.  Anima  est 
huiusmodi. 

III.  Omnis  forma  acci- 
dentalis  cum  subjecti  incon- 
stantia  et  varietate  (varia- 
bili)  mutatur. 

Anima  non  est  huius- 
modi, quia  ut  etiam  Aris- 


toteles  fatetur,  si  seni  detur 
oculus  juvenis  videt  ut  ju- 
venis. 

IY.  Omne  cui  convenit 
ratio  et  essentia  substantise 
verb  est  substantia. 

Sed  animse  convenit  esse 
ens  per  se  existens  et  sub- 
jectum potentiarum. 

V.  Nullum  accidens  est 
solum  et  separatum. 

At  anima  est  sola  et  se- 
parata. 

VIII.  Omne  accidens  re- 
quirit  materiam  et  subiec- 
tum  pro  sui  existentia. 

Anima  vero  per  se  existit 
et  substat,  et  subiectum  est 
accidentium  et  potentiarum. 

A Saturni  statua  juxta 
tres  jprimas  rationes. 


364 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


A principio  originali. 
Quia  anima  patrein  dicit 
Deum,  unde  vel  est  ex 
divina  substantia  vel  ex 
peculiari  quadam,  pariter 
non  potest  denominari  ac- 
cidens. 

A semine.  Quia  anima 
non  est  virtus  seminis, 
neque  accidens,  sed  est 
agens  et  formatrix  in  eo  et 
per  ipsam. 

Eatione  praesidentice. 
Quia  ipse  regit,  gubernat, 
omnino  corpus. 

Ergo  hoc  est  potius  in- 
strumentum,  quam  princi- 
pium  illius. 

||  Ex  campo  Thetidis. 

Omne  accidens  habet  se 
sicuti  color,  omnis  materia 
sicut  tenebrae. 

Anima  vero  pertinet  ad 
sphaeram  lucis.  Est  neque 
accidens  est  neque  materia, 
sed  immaterialis  substantia. 
Maior  est  manifesta,  quia 
praeest,  dominatur  rei,  et 
vivificat  materiam  h.  e. 
subiectum  compositum. 

||  Ex  Saggitario. 

Ex  distindione  finis. 
Anima  est  finis,  ad  quern 
ordinantur  omnes  materiae 
partes,  Potius  enim  corpus 


propter  animam,  quam 
anima  propter  corpus. 

Ex  media  ultimi  parte. 
Anima  est  ultima  et  suprema 
species  inter  divina  et 
naturalia,  ad  quam  omnia 
inferiora  ordinantur,  sicut 
ordo  schahe  requirit. 

||  Ex  Monte  Olympi. 

Ex  parte  dimensionum. 
Nulla  forma  accidentalis 
entelechiam  corporis  tran- 
scendit,  neque  transcendere 
potest  limites  corporis. 

Sed  anima  multo  inter- 
vals relmquit  post  se  ma- 
teriam tanquam  nihil. 

||  Ex  campo  Cceli. 

Ex  meditate.  Omnis 
forma  accidentalis  est  veluti 
indumentum  materiae,  et 
substantialis  forma  corporea, 
necessario  est  accidentibus 
induta. 

Anima  vero  neque  sub- 
stantiae corporeae  indumen- 
tum, neque  secundum  suam 
naturam  accidentibus  induta 
est  corporeis,  sed  nuda  sub- 
stantia et  simplex. 

Solitudine.  Omne  acci- 
dens in  corporis  compositione 
consistit,  utpote  emanans  ex 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


36s 


coitu  materise  et  formse 
substantialis. 

Anima  vero  dicitur  forma 
sine  materia  existens,  et 
etiam  necessario  est,  quia 
illi  dominatur. 

||  Ex  campo  Vestce. 

Indole.  Anima  dicitur 
ad  imaginem  et  similitudi- 
nem  Dei  a Theologis  et  a 
Philosophis,  simulachrum 
Divinitatis,  vel  filia  mentis. 
Tale  non  dicit  esse  materiale, 
vel  forma  materialis. 

II..  Ipsa  forma  materialis, 
est  lux  alligata  tenebris. 
Accidens  materiale  estveluti 
nigredo  seu  color  resultans 
e tenebris. 

Animas  vero  substantia, 
neque  a materia  resultat 
neque  materise  est  alligata. 

Ex  voluntate . Anima 
aspirat  vel  ad  propriam 
regionem,et  propriam  lucem, 
quia  amat  veritatem,  et 
alitur  veritate  nititurque 
Divinis. 

Ergo  non  est  accidens, 
neque  forma  corporis  cui 
indolem  referat. 

||  Ex  campo  Oceani. 

Ex  magnitudine  latitud. 
et  profunditatis.  Anima 
secundum  esse,  posse  et 
operari,  subsistit,  valet  et 


agit  ultra  fines  et  limites 
mundi  corporei  et  appe- 
tit  ultra  materiam  atque 
corpus. 

Anima  vero  non  corpori 
accedit,  sed  tota  materia 
accedit  et  absumitur  ab 
anima,  ex  qua  corpus  sibi 
fabrefecit. 

Ergo  neque  corporis  acci- 
dens. 

Minor  manifesta,  quia 
parvo  synapis  grano,  accedit 
forma  arboris,  tamquam 
animse  existentis  in  centro 
seminis,  non  autem  anima 
advenit  arbori  iam  fabre- 
facto. 

III.  Cognoscentise  omnis 
vis  et  efficacia  formse 
materialis  adolescit  et  per- 
ficitur.  . . . 

Anima  vero  est  quse 
adolescere  facit,  cum  ipsa 
non  adolescat,  sed  perpetuo 
constat  eadem  quod  est 
etiam  ab  adversariis  conces- 
sum. 

||  De  Telis  Cupidinis. 

Ex  parte  kabitudinis,  seu 
inclinationis.  Quia  anima 
intus  Deus  fieri,  et  in  simili- 
tudinem  Dei  trasformari. 
Ergo  est  quasdam  sub- 
stantia. 

II.  Quia  illam  Deus  alio- 


366 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


quitur  tangit,  pulsat,  talis 
autem  subiectio  est  suppositi 
non  accidentis  alicuius. 

||  Ex  campo  JEonos. 

Ex  parte  ceterni,  quod 
non  eget  conservatione.  Omne 
autem  accidens  et  forma 
corporea,  in  compositione 
consistens,  conservante  in- 
diget  tempore  et  loco  et 
complexione  quadam. 

Anima  vero  ipsa  seipsam 
movet,  seipsam  servat,  et 
non  exinde  mutuatis  princi- 
piis,  quo  aliquo  connectente 
et  retinente  consistent,  est 
formata  sed  individua  sub- 


stantia. Est  vita  seipsam 
servans,  sicut  k seipsa  dis- 
cedere  non  poterit. 

Ex  parte  transmutationis. 
Omne  quod  corrumpitur  vel 
evanescit  ut  accidentia,  et 
formaa  accidentales  cor- 
rumpi,  dicuntur,  vel  in 
aliud  transit. 

Anima  vero  neque  eva- 
nescit, quia  non  est  accidens, 
quia  est  neutrius  formee 
rationale,  neque  in  aliud 
transit,  quia  substantia  est 
simplex  et  nuda.  . . , 


“ Itaque  disseruimus  probando  animam  esse  sub- 
sistentem,  non  accidentalem  formam,  non  Entelechiam, 
non  harmoniam,  non  aliud  simile. 

“Media  plura  ad  idem  probandum  et  quodcunque 
aliud  desumi  possunt,  persequendo  csetera  statuarum 
membra,  quorum  tria  priora  tantum  selegimus  : com- 
modiora  vel  graviora,  videbuntur  esse  consequentia  ubique, 
quia  hunc  ordinem  servare  consuevimus,  ut  a levioribus 
mediis  ad  graviora  et  potissima  procederemus,  adeo  ut 
ultimum  cseterorum  omnium  complexionem  includere 
videatur. 

“ Itaque  Gratias  Deo  agentes  Artem  inventivam  per 
30  statuas  perfecimus.  Keliquum  est  ut  quo  quisque 
prout  credit  posse  ex  istius  lumine  bonum,  meliorem,  vel 
optimum  fructum  comparare,  bene,  melius,  vel  optime  in 
istis  assuescat:  Multum  enim  confert  bonam  non  solum 
incurrisse  disciplinam,  et  k bono  lumine,  sed  illud  prseci- 
puum  esse  videtur,  ut  aliquis  quod  habet  fidat  se  habere 
et  iuxta  fidem  excolat  agrum  et  iugi  meditatione  rerum 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


367 


rigans  agrum,  ingenii,  propria  iniecta  semina  adolescere 
faciat,  incrementum  sumat,  et  fructus  suo  tempore  praesto- 
letnr.  Infidi  vero  et  desperantes  quos  neque  numina 
posse  curare  testantur,  ocio  et  torpore  et  innata  desidia, 
talentum  suffodiunt,  et  segetem  muribus  corrodendam 
prsetermittunt.” 

F Anno  1591.  I Mens:  Octob : N Die  22  c?.  I 
Paduge.  S. 


Le  livre  finit  sur  le  recto  de  la  p.  1 2 1 . Suivent  deux 
f.  bl. 

Le  MS.  est  termine  par  un  cahier  de  20  f.  (d’une 
ecriture  peu  soignee  et  sur  un  tout  autre  papier)  qui 
contient : 

(F.  I.  r.) 

Artificiosa  Methodus  Medicine  ex  Lullianis 
Fragmentis. 

Cet  opuscule  est  divise  en  XIII.  trait es.  Les  trois 
premiers  qui  contiennent  le  subjectum  ne  portent  pas  de 
titre ; ils  se  terminent  a la  f.  5®  dont  le  verso  est  occupe 
par  un  cercle  astrologique.  Les  dix  autres  traites  sont : 
Tract.  IV.  De  febribus. — T.  V.  De  urinis. — T.  VI.  De 
pulsibus. — T.  VII.  De  regionibus  digestionum. — T.  VIII. 
De  causis  doloris. — T.  IX.  De  appetitu. — T.  X.  De 
kumoribus. — T.  XI.  De  gradibus  infirmitatum. — T.  XII. 
De  curis  infirmorum. — T.  XIII.  De  XVI.  electuariis 
generalibus.  Ce  dernier  ckap.  est  termine  sur  le  recto 
de  la  f.  19  par  ces  mots  : “ . . . Quia  ista  XVI.  electuaria 
debet  medicus  in  promptu  : habere,  ut  subito  infirmitati- 
bus  possit  succurere,  et  talis  doctrina  est  utilis  et  facilis 
scientibus  istum  librum,  et  quia  sine  isto  Libro  vel  arte 
non  potest  kaberi  scientia  de  omnibus  supradictis  : quia 
ars  sine  scientia  thesaurus  pauperum  vere  erit.” 

Au  bas  de  cette  feuille  se  trouve  surcolle  un  lambeau 


363 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS. 


de  pap.  sur  lequel  on  lit  une  recette  pour  confectionner  le 
colirium.  Le  derniere  f.  suivante  se  trouve  occupde  par 
un  cercle  astrologique.  Outre  cela  une  feuille  volante  et 
un  parchemin  a 4te  trouvee  dans  le  MS.  Elle  forme  un 
reseau  en  parallelogram  in  e dont  un  cote  est  divise  en  i 3 
parties  et  l’autre  en  22  ; les  petits  quarres  que  forment 
les  lignes  de  division  sont  en  partie  decoupes,  tandisque 
les  filets  des  lignes  sont  soigneusement  conserves.1 

C’est  une  de  ces  schemata  ou  figures  explicatives  des 
theories  mnemoniques  ou  metaphysiques  de  l’auteur  qu’il 
se  complaisait  a executer  de  ses  propres  mains  comme 
l’atteste  Wechel  de  Franc  fort,  editeur  de  quelques-unes 
de  ses  oeuvres : “ Opus  agressus,  ut  quam  accuratissime 
absolveret,  non  schemata  solum  sua  manu  sculpsit,  sed 
etiam  operarum  se  in  eodem  correctorem  prsebuit.”  2 

L’explications  de  la  table  se  trouve  probablement  dans 
le  texte  du  manuscrit.3 

Nous  appellons  l’attention  du  monde  savant  sur  les 
passages  du  MS.  qui  levent  compietement  l’accusation 
calomnieuse  qui  a ete  portee  contre  le  ceiebre  philosophe 
italien  d’avoir  prof  esse  des  dogmes  antichretiens,  et  la 
transmigration  des  ames.  Les  passages  consignes  sur  les 
£f.  23.  r.  et  48.  r.,  ainsi  que  les  propositions  emises  dans 
le  livre  De  Triginta  Statuarum  (pp.  1 14— 1 21),  qui  adop- 
tent  la  revelation,  qui  s’appuyent  sur  les  paroles  du  Christ 
(dont  le  tres  saint  nom  est  trace  par  la  main  de  Bruno  en 
lettres  majuscules),  et  enfin  qui  parlent  de  l’immaterialite 
et  de  la  substantial^  de  lame,  protestent  hautement 
contre  les  farouches  ennemis  de  Bruno,  auxquels  sans  doute 
il  applique  les  paroles  du  Christ  citees  k la  f.  48.  r. : 
“ Hie  dies  vestra  et  potestas  tenebrarum.”  Ce  passage  et 
ce  qui  le  suit  forme  comme  une  prediction  du  sort  qui 

1 Noi  sopprimiamo  il  disegno  per  3 C’est  aux  recherches  dclairdes  de 
le  difficolth  che  incontrano  le  nostre  M.  Tross,  libraire  h Paris,  que  je 

tipografie  nel  riprodurlo.  dois  l’acquisition  de  ce  precieux  MS. 

- J.  BruniNol.  detripliciminimoet  exporte  de  l’Allemagne. 
mensura ; dans  la  preface  de  Wechel. 


THE  NOROFF  COLLECTION  OF  MSS.  369 

etait  reserve  au  hardi  pliilosophe.  Pouvait-on  mecon- 
naitre  un  pliilosophe  chretien  dans  celui  qui  disait  dans 
le  dernier  ouvrage  qu’il  a publid  (De  Triplici  Minimo  et 
Mensura,  L.  I.  p.  2,  v.  33,  34); 

“ Novi  Telluris  faciem  nihilomiims  esse 
Fulgentem,  vere  sanctum  et  venerabile  sidus.” 


2 A 


III. 


THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


• ( 


THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


373 


Date. 

Title. 

Notes. 

I 570? 

L’arca  di  Noe. 

Bruno  alludes  twice  to  this 
work(W.  ii.  255;  W.  i.  149). 
He  says  he  dedicated  it  to 
Pope  Pius  V.  (1566-72). 

1570 

or 

1571. 

Poems. 

These  are  treated  by  Berti  as 
a separate  work.  They  are 
spoken  of  in  the  beginning 
of  II  Candelajo,  and  may 
be  embodied  in  the  Heroici 
Furori. 

1576. 

De  Sphsera. 

On  somewhat  insufficient 
grounds  Berti  implies  the 
existence  of  this  work.  In 
his  evidence  before  the  Ve- 
netian inquisitors  Bruno 
uses  the  following  words  : 
“Io  stetti  in  Noli  circa 
quattro  mesi  insegnando 
la  grammatica  ai  figluoli, 
et  leggendo  la  sfera  a 
certi  gentiluomini.”  This 
scarcely  implies  the  ex- 
istence of  a book  on  the 
subject  written  by  Bruno. 

1576 

or 

1577- 

Dei  Segni  dei 
Tempi. 

Printed  at  Venice. 

In  the  documentary  evidence 
at  Bruno’s  trial  we  read, 
“ Whilst  I was  here  ” (in 
Venice)  “I  caused  a cer- 

374 


THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 

Title. 

Notes. 

tain  little  book,  entitled  Of 
the  Signs  of  the  Times,  to  be 
printed,  and  I bad  it  done 
to  get  a little  money  for 
my  support.”  This  work 
was  probably  printed  either 
without  a name  or  under 
that  of  Filippo  Bruni  or 
Bruno. 

1577-8 

De  Anima. 

“ This  book,”  says  Berti,  “ was 
the  fruit  of  Bruno’s  teach- 
ing at  Toulouse.”  Part  of 
the  Noroff  Collection  con- 
tains, towards  the  close  of 
the  book  De  Triginta  Statu- 
arum,  a number  of  para- 
graphs on  the  Soul,  headed 
“Anima  non  est  accidens.” 

1578-9 

Liber  Clavis 
Magnae. 

“ This  book,”  says  Berti, 
“ was  composed  in  Toulouse, 
as  may  be  inferred  from 
Bruno’s  constant  references 
to  it  in  his  first  hooks  printed 
in  Paris.”  Is  this  state- 
ment reconcilable  with  Est 
et  XJnica  Clavis,  “ Bruno’s 
second  title  to  his  De  Lam- 
pade  Combinatoria  ” ? 

THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


375 


I 


Date. 


Title. 


Notes. 


578-9 


Dei  Predicamenti 
di  Dio.  MSS. 


Berti  believes  this  book  to 
have  been  written  in  Paris 
between  1579  and  1583, 
and  to  be  the  work  alluded 
to  by  Moeenigo  (Doc.  I.) 
as  “ a small  work  in  his 
hand  on  God  by  the  de- 
duction of  certain  of  His 
universal  predicates.”  It 
is  perhaps  in  Pome  in  the 
archives  of  the  Holy  Office. 

“ I place  in  the  hands  of 
your  reverence,”  says  Mo- 
eenigo, “three  printed  books 
of  this  same  man,  wherein 
are  noted  other  things  that 


have  escaped  me,  along 
with  a small  work  in  his 
hand  of  God,  by  the  de- 
duction of  certain  of  His 
universal  predicates,  where- 
by you  may  measure  his  un- 
derstanding.” ( First  Docu- 


1582. 


Purgatorio 


Inferno. 


dell’  “ 


merit : Trial.) 


A voi  Smitho,  mandaro  quel 
dialogo  del  Nolano,  che  si 
chiama  Purgatorio  dell’  In- 


ferno, e ivi  vedrai  il  frutto 
de  la  redenzione  ” ( Cena  de 
le  Ceneri). 


3/6 


THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


Date. 

Title. 

Notes. 

1591. 

De  Eerum 
ginibus. 

Ima- 

“ In  libro  de  rerum  imagini- 
bus  (volente  Deo)  explica- 
bimus,  ut  quaelibet  res  duos 
habeat  dextrum  sinistrum- 
que  ; genios,  eosque ; active 
vel  passive,  et  secundum 
plurimas  in  prima  entis  divi- 
sione  et  diadis  ordine,  dif- 
ferentias  ” {Be  Mona.de , p. 
33)- 

I59I- 

Libro  delle  Sette 
Arti  Liberali. 

“ Disegnava,”  says  Bruno  in 
his  evidence,  “ di  ritornare 
in  Francoforte  per  far  stam- 
pare  alcune  mie  opere 
delle  7 Arti  Liberali,  et  7 
altre  arti  inventive.” 
Unprinted,  and  perhaps  in  the 
archives  of  the  Holy  Office 
in  Eome  (Doc.  XVII.) 

1591. 

Templum  Mnemo- 
synes. 

Bartholmess  (vol.  ii.  p.  60) 
thinks  this  may  have  been 
a collection  of  Latin  poems. 
Berti  (p.  30)  believes  it  to 
be  entirely  or  in  part  re- 
produced in  the  work  Be 
Compositione  Imaginum — 
another  name  perhaps  for 
the  work  Be  Rerum  Im- 
aginibus. 

THE  LOST  WORKS  OF  BRUNO. 


277 


Date. 

Title. 

Notes. 

1591. 

De  Multiplici 
Mundi  Yita. 

De  Naturae  Gesti- 
bus. 

De  Principiis  Veri. 
De  Astrologia. 

These  four  works  are  quoted 
by  Berti  and  Bartlhomess. 

The  latter  believes  them  to 
have  been  works  on  logic. 
He  says  that  Bruno  has  al- 
luded to  them  all  by  name. 

1591- 

De  Physica  Magia. 

De  Triplici  Minimo,  p.  74. 
See  the  Noroff  Catalogue. 

I59I- 

De  Physica. 

Dc  Triplici  Minimo,  p.  12. 

Berti  further  counts  among 
Bruno’s  lost  works  a Libretto 
di  Congiurationi.  Mocenigo, 
Bruno’s  denouncer,  says  in 
his  evidence  at  the  trial, 
that  Bruno  “ entreated  me 
to  keep  all  I had  of  his  (for 
all  he  had  was  mine),  and 
that  it  would  suffice  him 
if  I would  but  bestow  on 
him  a transcript  d’un  libretto 
di  congiuratione  die  io  ho 
trovato  tra  certe  sue  carte 
scritte  ” (Doc.  II.)  May 
not  this  work  be  the  Libro 
de  Sigillis  Hermetis  et  Ptolo- 
mei,  a transcript  of  which 
was  made  at  Padua  for  the 
use  of  Mocenigo  ? 

( 379  ) 


IY. 

ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


[Adelung  (J.  C.)  ?],  Geschichte  der  menscblichen  Narrheit,  oder  Le- 
bensbesckreibungen  beriihmter  Schivarzkiinstler,  Goldmacher, 
Teufelsbanner,  Zeiehen  & Liniendeuter,  Scliwarmer,  Wahr- 
sager,  und  anderer  philosophischer  Unholde.  2 vols.  8vo. 
Leipzig,  1785-86;  vol.  i.  pp.  241-301.  Jordanus  Brunus , ein 
verwegener  Religions- Spotter. 

Alaux  (J.  E.),  Histoire  de  la  Philosophie.  8vo.  Paris,  1882.  Con- 
tains, pp.  197-199,  a short  account  of  Bruno’s  life. 

Allgemeine  Zeitung,  Beilage  zu  Nos.  292  and  294,  Oct.  18  and  20, 
1868.  4to.  Augsburg,  1868. 

M.  Carriere,  Giordano  Bruno’s  Inquisitions  Process  in  Yenedig. 

Ditto,  ditto,  Beilage  zu  No.  39,  Feb.  8,  1883.  4to.  Miinchen, 
1883. 

M.  Carriere,  Giordano  Bruno’s  Weltanschauung  und  Verhdngniss. 
(Review  of  Brunnhofer' s Life.) 

Ditto,  ditto,  Beilage  zu  No.  48,  Feb.  17,  1885. 

M.  Carriere,  Giordano  Bruno.  (Review  of  ThSophile  Dufour’s 
“ Giordano  Bruno  d Geneve.  Documents  inedits.  Geneve,  1884.”) 

Ditto,  ditto,  (Monatsblatter  zur  Erganzung  der).  Dezember  1847. 
4to.  Augsburg.  Contains  in  an  article  “ Zur  Faustsage  und 
zur  Faustlitteratur  ” by  Dr.  Notter,  some  remarks  on  the  Bruno  of 
Marlowe’s  Dr.  Faustus,  who  is  traced  back  to  Giordano  Bruno. 
(Reprinted  in  Scheiblds  Kloster.  Vol.  v.). 

Atlantic  Monthly , devoted  to  Literature,  Science,  Art,  and  Politics, 
vol.  xxxviii.  No.  229,  Nov.  1876.  8vo.  Boston  [1876]. 

pp.  550-577,  J.  H.  Browne,  Giordano  Bruno. 

Balau  (P.),  Di  Giordano  Bruno  e dei  meriti  di  lui  ad  un  monu- 
mento.  Saggio  storico  popolare.  i2mo, pp.  127.  Bologna,  1886. 

Bartholmess  (Ch.),  Jordano  Bruno.  2 vols.  8vo.  Paris,  1847. 


3S0  ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Bayle  (P.),  Dictionnaire  Historique  et  Critique,  troisieme  edition. 
4 vols.  fol.  Amsterdam,  mdccxx. 

Yol.  i.  pp.  672-74,  /.  Brunus. 

Berti  (D.),  Vita  di  Giordano  Bruno  da  Nola.  ' 8vo.  Firenze,  1868. 

Copernico  e le  vicendi  del  sistema  Copernicano  in  Italia 

nella  seconda  metii  del  secolo  xvi.,  e nella  priina  del  xvii. 
Con  documenti  inediti  intorno  a Giordano  Bruno  E.  Galileo 
Galilei.  8vo.  Roma,  1876. 

pp.  218-235. 

Documenti  intorno  a Giordano  Bruno.  8vo.  Roma,  1880. 

Besant  (Mrs.  A.),  Giordano  Bruno.  Biographical  sketch.  8vo. 
London,  1877. 

Bibliotlieque  Universelle  et  Revue  Suisse.  89me  annee.  Troisieme 
periode,  tome  xxiv.  Nos.  71  and  72,  Nov.  and  Dec.  1884.  8vo. 
Lausanne,  1884. 

Marc-Monnier,  Giordano  Bruno  et  ses  Derniers  Biographes. 

Bionda  (Pietro),  Giordano  Bruno.  8vo.  Lecce,  1873. 

Bruckeri  (J.),  Historia  Critica  Philosophise  a tempore  resusci- 
tarum  in  occidente  litterarum  ad  nostra  tempora.  6 vols.  4to. 
Lipsiae,  1742-67. 

Tomi  iv.  Pars  altera,  pp.  12-62.  De  Jordano  Bruno  Nolano. 
( N.B . — A very  minute  narrative  of  all  that  is  known  of  Bruno’s 
life  and  of  his  writings.  The  notices  contained  in  Enfield’s 
and  Wallace’s  works  on  the  History  of  Philosophy  are  taken 
from  this  article,  and  they  contain  nothing  new.) 

Brunnhofer  (II.),  Giordano  Bruno’s  Weltanschauung  und  Verhang- 
niss  aus  den  Quellen  dargestellt.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1882. 

A Chapter  from  Brunnhofer’s  Life  of  Giordano  Bruno. 

Translated  from  the  German  (by  N.  Triibner).  Privately 
printed.  8vo.  pp.  12.  [London,  1883.] 

Buddei  (J.  F.),  Theses  Theologicse  de  Atheismo  et  Superstitione 
variis  observationibus  illustratse,  8vo.  Trajecti  ad  Rhenum, 
1737- 

On  pp.  83-85,  J-  Bruno’s  doctrine  and  works  are  described  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  point  of  view  as  heretic  and  blasphemous. 

Buhle  (J.  G.),  Geschichte  der  neuern  Philosophie  seit  der  Epoclie 
der  Wiederherstellung  der  Wissenschaften.  Zweiten  Bandes 
zweite  Halfte.  8vo.  Gottingen,  iSor. 

p.  703,  &c.  Vierter  Abschnitt.  Geschichte  und  Philosophie  des 
Jordan  Bruno. 

Buonafede  (A.),  Della  restaurazione  di  ogni  filosofia  nei  secoli, 
xvi.,  xvii.,  xviii.  8vo.  Milano,  183S. 

pp.  174-182.  Giordano  Bruno. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES.  381 


Carriere  (M.),  Die  philosophische  Weltanschauung  der  Reforma- 
tions-Zeit  in  iliren  Beziehungen  zur  Gegenwart.  8vo.  Stutt- 
0 gart  und  Tubingen,  1847. 

pp.  365-494.  Filoteo  Giordano  Bruno. 

Chalmers  (A.),  The  British  Essayists  ; with  prefaces,  historical  and 
biographical.  Yol.  x.  The  Spectator , No.  389,  Tuesday,  May 
27,  1712,  contains  an  account  of  the  “ Spaccio  della  Bestia 
Triomfanti,”  from  the  Puritan  point  of  view. 

Chaufepi£  (J.  G.  de),  Nouveau  Dictionnaire  historique  et  critique 
pour  servir  de  supplement  ou  de  continuation  au  Dictionnaire 
historique  et  critique  de  Mr.  P.  Bayle.  4 vols.  fol.  Amsterdam 
and  La  Haye,  1750-56. 

Tome  ii.,  pp.  454-462,  Jordanus  Brunus. 

Clemens  (F.  J.),  Giordano  Bruno  und  Nicolaus  von  Cusa.  Eine 
philosophische  Abliandlung,  8vo.  Bonn,  1847. 

Clement  (D.),  Bibliotheque  curieuse,  historique  et  critique,  ou 
Catalogue  raisonne  de  livres  dificiles  a trouver.  Tome  cin- 
quieme,  4to.  Hannover,  mdccliv. 

Contains  pp.  290-329  ; an  incomplete  list  of  G.  Bruno’s  Works. 

Colburns  New  Monthly  Magazine.  Vol.  cxviii.,  No.  704.  (New  Series, 
No.  14).  August  1880.  8 vo.  London,  1880. 

pp.  1 25- 1 3 1,  Jane  Cowen,  Giordano  Bruno. 

Colocci  (A.),  Giordano  Bruno.  Cenni  Biografici  con  documenti. 
8vo.  Roma,  1876. 

Debs  (A.),  P.  J.  Bruni  Nolani  vita  et  placita.  8vo.  Amiens,  1844. 

Desdotjits  (Th.),  La  legende  tragique  de  Jordano  Bruno,  comment 
elle  a ete  formee.  Son  origine  suspecte,  son  invraisemblance. 
8vo.  Paris,  1885. 

Deutsche  Litter  aturzeitung,  No.  40, October  2,  1886.  4to.  Berlin,  18S6. 
“ Felice  Tocco,  Giordano  Bruno.  Conferenza  tenuta  nel  circolo 
filologico  di  Firenze.  Firenze,  1886.”  Reviewed  by  Paul  Natorf. 

Dufour  (Th.),  Giordano  Bruno  a Geneve  (1579).  Documents 
inedits.  8vo.  Geneve,  1884.  (Extrait  du  Journal  de  Geneve  du 
15  Juillet  1884,  avec  additions  et  corrections.) 

Erdmann  (J.  E.),  Grundriss  der  Geschichte  der  Philosophie.  Erster 
Band.  Philosophie  des  Altertlmms  und  des  Mittelalters.  8vo. 
Berlin,  1878. 
pp.  551-561,  ‘■'■Bruno.” 

Zwei  Martyrer  der  Wissenschaft,  Vortrag.  i2mo.  Berlin, 

1864. 

Giordano  Bruno  and  Giovan  Domenico  Campanella. 


382  ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 

Falckenberg  (R.),  GrundzLige  cler  Philosophic  des  Nicolaus  Cusanus 
xnit  besonderer  Beriicksiclitigimg  der  Lehre  vom  Erkennen. 
8vo.  Breslau,  1 880. 

Falco  (F.),  Giordano  Bruno.  8vo.  Torino,  1863. 

Falkson  (F.),  Giordano  Bruno.  i2ino.  Hamburg,  1846. 

Ditto,  ditto.  8 vo.  Detroit,  Mich.,  1868. 

Frankfurter  Zeitung,Fo.  292.  October  19,1882.  Fol.  Frankfurt, 
1882. 

M.  Brasch,  Giordano  Bruno.  Fin  Martyrer  der  Walirheit. 

Fraser’s  Magazine.  Edited  by  J.  A.  Froude.  March  1871.  New 
Series,  Vol.  iii.  No.  xv.  8vo.  London,  1871.  Pp.  364-377, 
“ Giordano  Bruno.”  (By  the  late  Isa  Blagden.) 

[Fulin  (R.)],  Giordano  Bruno,  a Venezia.  Documenti  inediti  tratti 
del  Veneto  Archivio  Generale.  Roy.  8vo.  Venezia,  1864. 

(Notice  of  Bar tholmess’  Jordano  Bruno.) 

Gentzkenii  (F.),  Historia  philosophiae  in  qua  philosophorum  cele- 
brium  vitse  eorumque  hypotheses  notabiliores  ac  sectarum  fata 
a longa  rerum  memoria  ad  nostra  usque  tempora  succincte  et 
ordine  sistuntur.  8vo.  Hamburgi,  1724. 

pp.  154-156.  A short  sketch  of  Bruno’s  life  and  doctrines,  in  which 
he  is  represented  as  the  chief  reviver  of  the  philosophy  of  the  ancie?it 
Epicureans. 

Gerando  (H.),  Histoire  comparee  des  systemes  de  philosophie  consi- 
ders relativement  aux  principes  des  connaissances  liumaines. 
Deuxieme  edition,  8 vols.  8vo.  Paris,  1822-1847. 

Tome  v.  pp.  385-415.  Contains  a careful  analysis  of  Bruno’s 
philosophy  and  of  his  relative  position  among  his  contemporaries 
(i.a.,  J.  Cardan,  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  Campanella,  <£-c.) 

Ginguen^  (P.  L.),  Histoire  Litteraire  d’ltalie.  Seconde  edition.  14 
vols.  8 vo.  Paris,  1824. 

Tome  septieme,  pp.  524-531.  Contains  a not  very  appreciative 
account  of  Bruno's  life  and  works. 

Giornale  Napoletano.  Nuova  serie.  fasc.  49.  Aprile-Maggio,  1882. 
8vo.  Napoli. 

pp.  43-47.  Fiorentino , Dialoghi  morali  di  Giordano  Bruno. 

Giornale  Napoletano  della  Domenica.  Numero  5.  Gennaio  29. 
1882.  Napoli. 

Contains — Fiorentino,  La  fanciulleza  di  Giordano  Bruno. 

Goethe  (J.  W.  v.),  Sammtliche  Werke,  Ausgabe  letzter  Hand.  55 
vols.  1 2mo.  Stuttgart. 

Vol.  xxxii.  “ Tag-  und  Jahres-Hefte,  als  Erganzung  meiner 
sonstigen  Bekenntnisse,  Jahrgang  1812,”  pp.  78-9. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES.  383 


Goethe- Jahrbucli,  herausgegeben  von  Ludwig  Geiger.  Siebenter  Band. 
8 vo.  Frankfurt,  1886. 

pp.  241-250.  H.  Brunnbofer,  Giordano  Bruno’s  Einfluss  auf 
Goetbe. 

Gottingische  gelehrte  Anzeigen,  unter  der  Aufsicbt  der  Konigl.  Gesell- 
schaft  der  Wissenscliaften.  Stuck  1-2,  Jan.  5 and  12,  1881. 
8vo. 

pp.  25-32 — “ Jordan i Bruni  Opera  latine  conscripta,  rec.  F. 
Fiorentino.”  Reviewed  by  G.  Sigwart. 

Graf  (A.),  Studii  Drammatici,  8vo.  Torino,  1878. 

Pp.  163-204.  II  Gandelajo  di  G.  Bruno. 

Hallam  (H.),  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  in  the  Fif- 
teenth, Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.  4 vols.  8vo. 
Paris,  1837-39. 

Yol.  ii.  pp.  91-96. 

Hartung  (E.  B.),  Grundiinien  einer  Ethik  bei  Giordano  Bruno, 
besonders  nach  dessen  Schrift,  Lo  Spaccio  de  la  Bestia  Trion- 
fante.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1878. 

Henke  (E.  L.  Th.),  Georg  Calixtus  und  seine  Zeit.  2 vols.  8vo. 
Halle,  1853. 

Yol.  i.  p.  53. 

(Originally  published  in  1833  under  the  title  of  “ Die  Universitat 
Helmstadt  im  i6ten  Jahrhundert .”) 

Internationale  Monatsschrift.  Band  i.  heft  1-3,  8vo.  Chemnitz,  1882. 

H.  von  Stein,  Ueber  Lelire  und  Person  Giordano  Bruno’s. 

[Jacobi  (F.  H.)],  Ueber  die  Lehre  des  Spinoza  in  Briefen,  an  den 
Herrn  Moses  Mendelssohn.  Neue  vermehrte  Ausgabe.  8vo. 
Breslau,  1789. 

pp.  261-277.  Beylage  I.  Auszug  aus  Jordan  Bruno  von  Nola, 
von  der  Ursache,  dem  Prinzip  und  dem  Einen. 

Johnson  (A.),  A Manual  of  the  History  of  Philosophy,  translated 
from  the  German  of  Tennemann.  8vo.  Oxford,  mdcccxxxii. 
pp.  283-288— Giordano  Bruno. 

Jordani  (Caroli  Stephani),  V.  D.  apud  Potzlorienses  Ministri  Galli- 
cani  Disquisitio  historico-literaria,  de  Jordano  Bruno  Nolano. 
Primislaviae  Literis  Bagoczyanis,  8vo.  LI.  3 and  pp.  32.  S.  1.  eta. 
Koch  (M.),  Vierzig  Sonette  von  Giordano  Bruno,  iibersetzt,  erlautert 
und  mit  einer  Einleitung  versehen.  4to,  pp.  48.  Stolp,  1870. 
Lange  (F.  A.),  History  of  Materialism  and  criticism  of  its  present 
importance.  Authorised  translation  by  E.  Ch.  Thomas.  Second 
Edition.  3 vols.  8vo.  London  1879. 

Vol.  i.  pp.  232,  etc. 

Lauckhardt,  Disputatio  de  J.  Bruno.  8vo.  Halae,  1783. 

Leigh  (Aston),  The  Story  of  Philosophy.  8vo.  London,  1881. 


384  ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Lewes  (G.  H.),  The  Biographical  History  of  Philosophy,  from  its 
origin  in  Greece  clown  to  the  present  day.  8vo.  London,  1857. 
PP-  31 4-334* 

Libri  (G.),  Histoire  des  Sciences  Mathematiques  en  Italie,  depnis 
la  renaissance  des  lettres  jusqu’a  la  fin  du  xviie  siecle.  4 vols. 
8vo.  Paris,  1838-41. 

Vol.  iv.  pp.  1 4 1 - 1 45  and  pp.  407-437. 

Macmillan’s  Magazine.  October  1885,  No.  312,  8vo.  London,  1885. 
pp.  435-440,  R.  C.  Christie,  Was  Giordano  Bruno  really  burned  ? 

Majlath  (N.  J.),  Mnenomik,  oder  Kunst,  das  Gedachtniss  nach 
Begeln  zu  starken,  und  dessen  Kraft  ausserordentlich  zn 
erhohen.  (Drei  Stellen  der  Klassiker  iiher  Mnenomik.  Ueber- 
setzt  von  Kastner. — Uebersiclit  des  Systems  des  J.  Brunus. 
Yom  Freiherrn  Aretin).  8vo.  Wien,  1842. 

Mamiani  della  Bovere  (T.),  Del  rinnovamento  della  filosofia 
antica  Italiana  libro  uno.  Terza  edizione,  i2mo,  pp.  xvi.  and 
612.  Firenze,  1S36. 
pp.  28-29. 

Mariano  (R.),  Giordano  Bruno.  La  vita  e l’uomo.  Saggio  Biogra- 
fico-Critico.  8vo.  Roma,  1881. 

Mazzuchelli  Bresciano  (G.),  Gli  scrittori  d’  Italia  cive  notizie 
storiclie,  e critiche  intorne  alle  vite,  e agli  scritti  de  letterati 
Italiani.  2 vols.  fol.  Brescia,  1763. 

Yol.  ii.,  Part  4,  pp.  2187-2192.  Account  of  Bruno’s  life  and  list  of 
his  works. 

Mersenne  (M.),  L’Impiete  des  Deistes. — Ensemble  la  refutation  des 
dialogues  de  J.  Bruno,  &c.  Part  2,  8vo.  Paris,  1624. 

Meyer  (M.),  Etudes  de  Critique  ancienne  et  moderne.  8vo,  pp.  295. 
Paris  1850. 

pp.  89-92,  “ Jordano  Bruno." 

Mind.  A Quarterly  Review  of  Psychology  and  Philosophy.  No.  34. 
April  1884.  8 vo.  London, 

pp.  235-264,  Th.  Whittaker , Giordano  Bruno. 

Nachrichten  von  der  Konigl.  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften  und  der 
Georg-Augusts-Universitat  zu  Gottingen.  No.  7,  31.  Marz  1882. 
8vo.  Gottingen. 

pp.  153-163.  Paul  de  Lagarde,  Mittheilungen  iiber  Giordano  Bruno. 

Neue  Welt.  No.  34.  4to.  Stuttgart  1878. 

p.  403,  &c.  Giordano  Bruno,  von  Dr.  L.  Jacoby. 

(Nici5ron).— Mdmoires  pour  servir  ii  l’histoire  des  liommes  illustres 
dans  la  republique  des  lettres,  avec  un  catalogue  raisonnd  de 
leurs  ouv rages.  43  vols.  1 21110.  Paris,  1732. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES.  385 


Tome  xvii.  pp.  201-220.  u Jordanus  Brunus.”  A sketch  of  liis  life 
and  doctrine,  together  with  a list  of  his  published  works. 

Noroff  (A.  de),  Notice  Bibliograpliique  sur  un  manuscrit  auto- 
graphe  des  ceuvres  inedites  de  Giordano  Bruno  Nolano,  tiree  du 
catalogue  de  la  bibliotheque.  8vo,  pp.  26,  4 litb.  plates.  St. 
Petersbourg,  1868.  See  Table  II. 

Plumftre  (C.  E.),  General  Sketch  of  the  History  of  Pantheism. 
2 vols.  8vo.  London. 

Vol.  i.  pp.  348-366. 

Preussische  Jahrbiicher,  Herausgegeben  von  H.  von  Treitschke  und 
H.  Delbriick.  Zweiundfiinfzigster  Band.  Sechstes  Heft.  Dezem- 
ber  1883.  8vo.  Berlin, 
pp.  559-578— A.  Lasson,  Giordano  Bruno. 

Punjer  (G.  Ck.  B.),  Geschiclite  cler  Christlichen  Religionsphilo- 
sophie  seit  der  Reformation.  In  zwei  Banden.  8vo.  Braun- 
schweig, 1880. 

Yol.  i.  pp.  69-75 — Giordano  Bruno. 

Reimmanni  (J.  F.),  Historia  universalis  Atheismi  et  Atlxeorum  falso 
et  merito  suspectorum,  &c.  8vo,  pp.  562.  Hildesite,  1725. 

PP-  374~376 — Jordanus  Brunus  Atheus. 

Revue  de  Bruxelles.  Troisieme  Annee.  J anvier  1 840.  8vo.  Bruxelles, 
pp.  73-107 — A.  Moeller,  Giordano  Bruno.  Sa  Vie  et  ses  Doctrines. 

Mars  1840.  8vo.  Bruxelles. 

pp.  41-54 — Answer  to  above  article  by  J.  J.  Allmeyer. 

Revue  des  deux  Mondes.  Tome  dix-huitieme.  Dix-septieme  annee. 
Nouvelle  serie.  8vo.  Paris,  1847. 
pp.  1071-1105 — Saisset  (£■),  Giordano  Bruno  et  la  philosophic  au 
seizieme  siecle.  [ Jordano  Bruno,  par  Chr.  Bartholmess.\ 

Revue  Nouvelle.  Tome  treizieme.  Troisieme  annee.  8vo.  Paris,  1847. 
pp.  468-486 — “ Jordano  Bruno,  par  M.  Christian  Bartholmess,” 
reviewed  by  Gh.  Jourdain. 

Ritter  (H.),  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Pliilosopliie.  Ftinfter 
Theil.  8vo.  Hamburg,  1830. 
pp.  595-652. 

Rixner  (Th.  A.),  und  Siber  (Th.),  Leben  und  Lehrmeinungen 
beriihmter  Physilcer  am  Ende  des  xvi.  und  am  Anfange  des 
xvii.  Jahrbunderts,  als  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  Physiologie 
in  engerer  und  weiterer  Bedeutung.  Heft  Y. — Jordanus  Brunus, 
mit  dessen  Portrait.  8vo.  Sulzbach,  1824. 

Scartazzini  (J.  A.),  Giordano  Bruno.  Ein  Blutzeuge  des  Wissens. 
Vortrag.  8vo.  Biel,  1867. 

Schelling  (F.  W.  J.  v.),  Bruno  oder  iiber  das  gottliche  und  natiir- 
liche  Princip  der  Hinge.  Ein  Gesprach.  8vo.  Berlin,  1842. 

2 B 


386  ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


Bruno,  ossia  un  discurso  sul  principio  divino  e naturale 

delle  cose.  Dialogo,  soltato  in  Italiano  dalla  Marchesa  FI. 

Waddington,  aggiuntavi  una  prefazione  di  Terenzo  Mamiani. 

8vo,  pp.  viii.  and  236.  Milano,  1844. 

Mamiani’ s introduction  (pp.  1-99)  is  a sketch  of  Bruno’s  and  Schel- 
ling’s  philosophy,  their  points  of  resemblance,  and  the  mutual 
relations  of  the  Italian  and  German  schools  of  philosophy. 

Schroder  (E.  A.),  Anteckningar  i Pliilosophiens  Historia  I.  G. 

Bruno.  8vo.  Upsala,  1848. 

SciOPPius  (Caspar),  Epistola  ad  Conradum  Rittersliusium.  See  Ap- 
pendix v. 

Giving  an  account  of  Bruno’s  death,  and  criticising  his  doctrines 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  point  of  view.  It  is  printed  in 

“ Machiavellizatio,  qua  universorum  animos  dissociare  nitentibus 
respondetur,  in  gratiam  domini  archiepiscopi  castissimae  vitae 
Petri  Pazman,  succincte  excerpta.”  4to,  Saragossa,  per  Dida- 
cum  Iborrum,  1621. 

Burcardi  Gotthelfjii  Struvii,  Collectanea  Manuscriptorum  ex  codici- 
bus,  fragmentis  antiquitatis  atque  epistolis,  anecdotis  erudito- 
ruin  exerpta  atque  in  decern  fasciculis  digesta.  i2ino.  Jenae, 
MDCCXin. — Acta  Litteraria  ex  Manuscriptis  eruta  atque  col- 
lecta  cura  B.  G.  Struvii.  Fasciculus  Quintus.  Jenae, 
mdccvii.,  pp.  64-74. 

Entretiens  sur  divers  sujets  d'histoire,  de  litterature,  de  religion  et  de 
critique  (par  de  la  Croze).  8vo.  Cologne,  171 1. 

Poland’s  Miscellaneous  Works,  with  an  account  of  his  life  by  Des 
Maizeaux.  2 vols.  8vo.  London,  1747. 

Vol.  i.,  p.  305,  &c. 

Histoire  des  sciences  matldmatiques  en  Italie,  depuis  la  renaissance 
des  lettres  jusqu’d  la  fin  du  xvii”  sibcle,  par  G.  Libri.  4 vols. 
8vo.  Paris,  1838-41.  (See  above.) 

Also,  with  exception  of  the  postscript  and  a marginal  note , in  Berti’s 
Vita  di  G.  B.  ; and  a shortened  version  is  given  by  Barthol- 
mess  in  Latin  and  French  in  the  first  volume  of  his  life  of 
Bruno,  p.  332,  &c.  Victor  Cousin  reproduces  some  passages 
in  his  “ Fragments  de  philosophic  cartesienne.”  8vo.  Paris, 
1845.  An  English  translation  is  contained  in  the  2nd  volume 
of  La  Roche,  “ Memoirs  of  Literature,”  and  a French  one 
in  an  article  on  Vanini  in  the  “ Revue  des  deux  Monies,” 
April  1843. 

Shakespeariana.  Vol.  i.  No.  12.  October  1884.  8vo.  Philadelphia 
and  London. 

Contains  an  article  on  “ Shakespeare  and  Giordano  Bruno.” 

Sigwart  (Ch.),  Spinoza’s  neuentdeckter  Tractat  von  Gott,  dem 
Menschen  und  dessen  Gliickseligkeit,  erlautert  und  in  seiner 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES.  38 7 

Bedeutung  fur  das  Verstandniss  des  Spinozismus  untersucht. 
8 vo.  Gotha,  1866. 

pp.  107 -134  on  Spinoza's  relations  to  Giordano  Bruno’s  works. 

Die  Lebensgeschichte  Giordano  Bruno’s.  4to.  Tubingen, 

1880. 

Ivleine  Schriften.  2 vols.  8vo.  Freiburg,  1881. 

Yol.  i.,  pp.  49-151 — Giordano  Bruno  vor  dem  Inquisitionsgericht. 
Spaventa  (B.),  Saggi  di  Critica  Filosofica,  Politica  e Religiosa.  8vo. 
Napoli,  1867. 

Vol.  i.,  pp.  139-267 — Giordano  Bruno. 

Steffens  (H.),  Nachgelassene  Schriften.  Mit  einem  Vorworte  von 
Schelling,  8vo.  Berlin,  1846. 
pp.  41-76 — Ueber  das  Leben  des  Jordanus  Brumus. 

Stockl  (A.),  Geschichte  der  Philosophie  des  Mittelalters.  8vo. 
Mainz,  1866. 

Yol.  iii.,  pp.  106-136. 

Tafuri  di  Nardo  (G.  B.),  Istoria  degli  scrittori  nati  nel  regno  di 
Napoli.  3 vols.  8vo.  Napoli,  1755. 

Vol.  iii.,  Part  4,  pp.  204-218 — Giordano  Bruno. 

Tennemann  (D.  G.),  Geschichte  der  Philosophie.  11  vols.  8vo. 
Leipzig,  1798-1819. 

Vol.  ix.,  pp.  372-416,  contains  a minute,  but  not  very  lucid  article 
on  Giordano  Bruno. 

Tiedemann  (D.),  Geist  der  spekulativen  Philosophie.  6 vols,  8vo. 
Marburg,  1796. 

pp.  571-582 — Sketch  of  Bruno’s  life  and  works. 

Tiraboschi  (G.),  Storia  della  litteratura  Italiana.  Tomo  VII. 
Dali’  anno  md.  fino  all’  anne  mdc.  Parte  Secunda,  8vo,  pp. 
viii.  and  609-1 160.  Milano,  1824. 
pp.  689-700  contains  an  account  of  the  life  and  writings  of  Giordano 
Bruno. 

Tocco  (F.),  Giordano  Bruno.  Conferenza  tenuta  nel  circolo  filologico 
di  Firenze.  8vo,  pp.  92.  Firenze,  1886. 

Toland  (J.),  Collection  of  several  pieces  of  Mr.  John  Toland,  now 
first  published  from  his  Original  Manuscripts : with  some 
memoirs  of  his  life  and  writings.  2 vols.  8vo.  London, 
MDCCXXVI. 

Vol.  i.,pp.  316-349 — An  account  of  Giordano  Bruno’s  Book  of  the 
Universe. 

Tyndall  (J.),  Address  delivered  at  Belfast  before  the  British 
Association,  on  Wednesday  evening,  August  19,  1874.  Re- 
printed in  Fragments  of  Science,  a series  of  detached  essays, 


388  ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES. 


addresses,  and  reviews.  By  John  Tyndall.  Sixth  edition,  2 
vols.  London,  1879. 

Yol.  ii.,  pp.  137-203. 

Vierteljahrsschrift  ftir  Kultur  nnd  Litteratur  der  Renaissance.  Her- 
ansgegeben  von  Dr.  L.  Geiger.  Zweiten  Bandes  erstes  Heftes. 
8vo.  Berlin,  1886. 

pp.  27-56 — A.  Nicoladoni,  Giordano  Bruno’s  Leben  und  Lehre. 

Vierteljahrsschrift  ftir  wissenscliaftliche  Philosophie.  VIII.  Jahr- 
gang.  Erstes  Heft.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1884. 
pp.  18-55 — Lasswitz,  Giordano  Bruno  und  die  Atomistilc. 

Wernekke  (H.),  Giordano  Bruno’s  Polemik  gegen  die  Aristotelische 
Kosmologie.  8vo.  Dresden,  1871. 

Willis  (R.),  Benedict  de  Spinoza,  his  life,  correspondence  and  ethics. 
8 vo.  London,  1870. 
pp.  ix-xi. 

Windelband  (W.),  Die  Geschiclite  der  neueren  Philosophie,  in 
ihrem  Zusannnenhange  mit  der  allgemeinen  Cultur  und  den 
besonderen  Wissenscliaften.,  Erster  Band.  8vo.  Leipzig,  1878. 
pp.  65-76. 

Zeitschrift  ftir  Philosophie  und  philosophische  Kritik.  Neue  Folge. 
Vierundfiinl’zigsten  Bandes,  Erstes  Heft.  8vo.  Halle,  1869. 
pp.  128-134,  M.  Carriere,  Neue  Thatsachen  zu  Giordano  Bruno’s 
Leben  und  Lehre. 

Zimmermann  (J.  J.),  Dissertatio  de  Atheismo  J.  Bruno  Nolano 
impacto  dissertatio.  (J/ms.  Helvet .,  Tom.  v.,  pp.  557-602. 
Tom.  xxi.,  pp.  1-34.) 

Zouch  (Th.),  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Sir  Philip 
Sidney.  4to.  York,  1808. 
pp.  337,  &c.,  treat  on  Sidney’s  relation  to  Bruno. 


y. 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 

This  letter  is  to  be  found  in  the  Town  Library  at 
Breslau,  where  it  was  brought  from  the  library  of  the 
Elizabeth  Church  at  Breslau.  It  is  in  a collection  con- 
sisting of  several  thousands  of  letters,  mostly  originals, 
and  therefore  furnished  on  the  outside  with  the  addresses. 
On  the  letter  of  Scioppius  (which  fills  nearly  three  pages 
in  folio)  the  address  is  wanting,  and  the  conclusion  is, 
therefore,  that  it  is  not  the  original.  It  is  written  so 
distinctly  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  any  of  the 
letters.  Struve’s  copy  was  sent  him  by  the  then  librarian 
of  Breslau,  Krantz,  and  is  very  accurate.  I have  com- 
pared it  carefully  with  a copy  of  the  original  kindly 
made  by  Dr.  Markgraf,  the  town  librarian  of  Breslau, 
and  officially  certified  by  him. 

CUNKADO  PlTTERSHTJSIO  SUO  Gr.  SCHOPPIUS,  Fr.  S. 

Quas  ad  nuperam  tuam  expostulatoriam  Epistulam 
rescripsi,  non  jam  dubito,  quin  tibi  sint  redditae,  quibus 
me  tibi  de  vulgato  responso  meo  satis  purgatum  confido. 
Vt  vero  nunc  etiam  scriberem,  hodierna  ipsa  dies  me 
instigat,  qua  Iordanus  Brunus  propter  haeresin  vivus 
vidensque  publice  in  Campo  Florae  ante  theatrum  Pompeii 
est  combustus.  Existimo  enim  et  hoc  ad  extremam  im- 
pressae  epistulae  meae  partem,  qua  de  haereticorum  poena 
egi,  pertinere.  Si  .n.  nunc  Eomae  esses,  ex  plerisque 
omnibus  Italis  audires,  Lutheranum  esse  combustum,  et 


39° 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


ita  non  mediocriter  in  opinione  tua  de  saevitia  nostra 
confirmaveris.  At  semel  scire  debes,  mi  Kitterhusi, 
Italos  nostros  inter  haereticos  alba  linea  non  signare 
neque  discernere  novisse,  sed  quicquid  est  liaereticum, 
illud  Lutheranum  esse  putant,  in  qua  simplicitate,  ut 
Deus  illos  conservet  precor,  ne  sciant  unquam,  quid 
haeresis  alia  ab  aliis  discrepet.  Yereor  enim  ne  alioquin 
ista  discernendi  scientia  nimis  caro  ipsis  constet.  Vt 
autem  veritatem  ipsam  ex  me  accipias,  narro  tibi,  idque 
ita  esse  fidem  do  testem : nullum  prorsus  Lutheranum 
aut  Calvinianum,  nisi  relapsum  vel  publice  scandalosum, 
ullo  modo  Romae  periclitari,  nedum  ut  morte  puniatur. 
Haec  sanctissimi  Domini  nostri  mens  est,  ut  omnibus 
Lutheranis  Romam  pateat  liber  commeatus,  utque  a Car- 
dinalibus  et  Praelatis  Curiae  nostrae  omnis  generis  bene- 
volentiam  et  humanitatem  experiantur.  Atque  utinam 
hie  esses,  Rittersliusi ! scio  fore,  ut  rumores  vulgatos 
mendacii  damnes.  Fuit  superiore  mense  Saxo  quidam 
nobilis  hie  apud  nos,  qui  annum  ipsum  domi  Bezae 
vixerat.  Is  multis  Catholicis  innotuit,  ipsi  etiam  Con- 
fessario  Pontificis  Cardinali  Baronio  qui  eum  liumanissime 
excepit,  et  de  religione  nihil  prorsus  cum  eo  egit,  nisi 
quod  obiter  eum  adhortatus  est  ad  veritatem  investi- 
gandam.  De  periculo  jussit  eum  fide  sua  esse  securis- 
simum,  dum  ne  quod  publice  scandalum  praeberet.  Ac 
mansisset  ille  nobiscum  diutius,  nisi  sparso  rumore  de 
Anglis  quibusdam  in  Palatium  Inquisitionis  deductis  per- 
territus  sibi  metuisset. 

At  Angli  illi  non  erant,  quod  vulgo  ab  Italis  dicuntur, 
Lutherani,  sed  Puritani  et  de  sacrilega  Venerabilis  sacra- 
menti  percussione  Anglis  usitata  suspecti.  Similiter 
forsan  et  ipse  rumori  vulgari  crederem  Brunum  istum 
fuisse  ob  Lutheranismum  combustum,  nisi  S.  Inquisi- 
tionis officio  interfuissem,  dum  sententia  contra  eum  est 
lata,  et  sic  scirem,  quamnam  ille  haeresin  professus  fuerit. 
Fuit  enim  Brunus  ille  patria  Nolanus  ex  regno  Neapoli- 
tano  professione  Dominicanus : qui  cum  jam  annis  ab 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


39i 


hinc  octodecim  de  transubstantiatione  (rationi  nimirum  ut 
Chrysostomus  tuus  docet,  repugnante)  dubitare,  imo  earn 
prorsus  negare,  et  statim  virginitatem  B.  Maria  (quaru 
idem  Chrysostomus  omnibus  Cherubin  et  Seraphin  purio- 
rem  ait)  in  dubiurn  vocare  coepisset,  Genevam  abiit,  et 
istic  biennium  commoratus,  tandemque  quod  ad  Calvinis- 
mum,  qua  tamen  nihil  recta  magis  ad  Atheismum  ducit, 
per  omnia  non  probaret,  inde  ejectus  Lugdunum,  inde 
Tholossam,  hinc  Parisios  devenit,  ibique  extraordinarium 
Professorem  egit,  cum  videret  ordinarios  cogi  Missae 
sacro  interesse.  Postea  Londinum  profectus  libellum 
istic  edit  de  Bestia  Triumphante,  h.  c.  de  Papa,  quern 
vestri  honoris  Causa  bestiam  appellare  solent.  Inde 
Witebergam  abiit,  ibique  publice  professus  est  biennium, 
nisi  fallor.  Hinc  Pragam  delatus  librum  edit  de  im- 
menso  et  infinito,  itemque  de  innumerabilibus  (si  titu- 
lorum  sat  recte  memini ; nam  libros  ipsos  Pragae  habui) 
et  rursus  alium  de  umbris  et  Idaeis,  in  quibus  horrenda 
prorsusque  absurdissima  docet,  ut  q.  mundos  esse  innu- 
merabiles,  animam  de  corpore  in  corpus,  imo  et  alium  in 
mundum  migrare,  unam  animam  bina  corpora  informare 
posse,  magiam  esse  rem  bonam,  et  licitam,  Spiritum 
Sanctum  non  esse  aliud  nisi  animam  mundi  et  hoc 
voluisse  Moysen,  dum  scribit,  eum  fovisse  aquas ; mun- 
dum esse  ab  aeterno,  Moysen  miracula  sua  per  magiam 
operatum  esse,  in  qua  plus  profecerat,  quam  reliqui 
Aegyptii ; eum  leges  suas  confinxisse,  sacras  literas  esse 
somnium,  Diabolos  salvatum  iri,  solos  Hebreos  ab  Adamo 
et  Eva  originem  ducere,  reliquos  ab  iis  duobus,  quos 
Deus  pridie  fecerat,  Christum  non  esse  Deum,  sed  fuisse 
magum  insignem  et  hominibus  illusisse,  ac  propterea 
merito  suspensum  (Italice  impiccato)  non  crucifixum  esse, 
Prophetas  et  Apostolos  fuisse  homines  nequam,  magos  et 
plerosque  suspensos  denique  infinitum  foret  omnia  ejus 
portenta  recensere,  quae  ipse  et  libris  et  viva  voce 
asseruit.  Uno  verbo  ut  dicam  quicquid  unquam  ab 
Ethnicorum  Philosophis  vel  a nostris  antiquis  et  recen- 


392 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


tioribus  liaereticis  est  assertum,  id  omne  ipse  propug- 
navit.  Praga  Brunsuigam  et  Helmstadium  provenit  et 
ibi  aliquandiu,  professus  dicitur.  Inde  Francofurtum 
librum  editurus  abiit,  tandemque  Yenetiis  in  Inquisitionis 
manus  pervenit,  ubi  diu  satis  cum  fuisset  Eomam  missus 
est,  et  saepius  a S.  officio,  quod  vocant,  Inquisitionis 
examinatus,  et  a summis  Theologis  convictus,  modo 
quadraginta  dies  obtinuit  quibus  deliberaret,  modo  pro- 
misit  Palinodiam,  modo  denuo  suas  nugas  defendit,  modo 
alios  quadraginta  dies  impetravit ; sed  tandem  nihil  egit 
aliud,  nisi  ut  Pontificem  et  inquisitionem  deluderet.  Fere 
igitur  biennio  post,  quam  hie  in  Inquisitionem  devenit, 
nupera  die  nona  Februarii  in  Supremi  Inquisitoris  Palatio 
praesentibus  Illustrissimis  Cardinalibus  S.  officii  Inquisi- 
tionis (qui  et  senio  et  rerum  usu  et  Theologiae  Iurisque 
scientia  reliquis  praestant)  et  Consultoribus  Theologis,  et 
saeculari  Magistratu,  Yrbis  Gubernatore  : fuit  Brunus  ille 
in  locum  Inquisitionis  introductus,  ibique  genibus  flexis 
sententiam  contra  se  pronuneiari  audiit.  Ea  autem  fuit 
hujusmodi:  FTarrata  fuit  ejus  vita,  studta  et  dogmata,  et 
qualem  Inquisitio  diligentiam  in  convertendo  illo  et 
fraterne  monendo  adhibuit,  qualemque  ille  pertinaciam 
et  impietatem  ostenderit:  inde  eum  degradarunt,  ut  dici- 
mus,  prorsusque  excommunicaruntq: et  saeculari  magis- 
tratui  cum  tradiderunt  puniendum,  rogantes  ut  quam 
clementissime  et  sine  sanguinis  profusione  puniretur. 
Haec  cum  ita  essent  peracta,  nihil  ille  respondit  aliud, 
nisi  minabundus.  | Majori  forsan  cum  timore  sententiam 
in  me  fertis,  quam  ego  accipiam.  Sic  a Lictoribus 
Gubernatoris  in  Carcerem  deductus  ibique  octiduo  asser- 
vatus  fuit,  si  vel  nunc  errores  suos  revocare  vellet,  sed 
frustra.  Hodie  igitur  ad  rogum  sive  piram  deductus  cum 
Salvator  is  Crucifixi  imago  ei  jam  morituro  ostenderetur, 
torvo  earn  vultu  aspernatus  rejecit,  sicque  ustulatus 
misere  periit,  renun ciaturus  credo  in  reliquis  illis,  quos 
finxit  mundis,  quonam  pacto  homines  blasphemi  et  impii 
a Romanis  tractari  soleant.  Hie  itaque  mi  Rittershusi 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


393 


modus  est,  quo  contra  homines,  imo  monstra  huiusmodi  a 
nobis  procedi  solet.  \ Scire  nunc  ex  te  studeam,  isne 
modus  tibi  probetur : an  vero  velis  licere  unicuique 
quidvis  et  credere  et  profiteri.  Equidem  existimo  te  non 
posse  eum  non  probare.  Sed  illud  forte  addendum 
putabis : Lutheranos  talia  non  docere  neque  credere,  ac 
proinde  aliter  tractandos  esse.  Assentimur  ergo  tibi  et 
nullum  prorsus  Lutheranum  comburimus.  Sed  de  ipso 
Propheta  vestro  Luthero  aliam  forte  rationem  iniremus. 
Quid  .n.  dicis,  Rittershusi,  si  asseram  et  probare  tibi 
possim,  Lutherum  non  eadem  quidem,  quae  Brunus,  sed 
vel  absurdiora  magisque  horrenda  non  dico  in  Convivali- 
bus  sed  in  iis  quos  vivus  edidit  libris,  tanquam  sententias, 
dogmata  et  oracula  docuisse  ? quid  tu  hoc  non  credis  ? 
Mone  quaeso,  si  nondum  satis  novisti  eum  qui  veritatem 
tot  saeculis  sepultam  vobis  eruit,  et  faciam  ipsa  tibi  loca 
indicentur,  in  quibus  succum  quincti  istius  Evangelii 
deprehendas,  quamvis  istic  Anatomiam  Lutheri  a Pistorio 
habere  possitis.1  Nunc  si  Lutherus  Brunus  est,  quid  eo 
fieri  debere  censes  ? nimirum  tardipedi  Deo  dandum,  in- 
felicibus  ustulandum  lignis-quid  illis  postea,  qui  eum  pro 
Evangelista,  Propheta,  tertio  Elia  habent  ? hoc  tibi  cogi- 
tandum  potius  relinquo : tantum  ut  hoc  mihi  credas, 
Romanos  non  ea  severitate  erga  haereticos  experiri,  qua 
creduntur,  et  qua  debebant  forte  erga  illos,  qui  scientes 
volentes  pereunt.  Sed  de  his  satis.2  . Quae  nuper  a te 
petii,  rogo  pro  veteri  nostra  amicitia  rires  diligenter : qui 
si  tuo  nomine  similiter  quid  facere  potero,  faciam  neque 
fidem  neque  industriam  in  me  desiderare  queas.  Sulpitii 
vitam  cum  acceperis,  quaero  quando  editionem  sis  auspi- 
eaturus,  et  hoc  te  amice  moneo  apud  doctos  potius  quam 
apud  juvenes  vel  vulgariter  eruditos  laudem  ex  ea  quae- 
rere  cogites.  Satis  jam  datum  aurae  isti.  Nunc  solis 
majorum  gentium  literatis  placendum  quod  fiet,  si  non 

1 Catullus,  Ode  26. 

2 At  this  point  the  copy  iu  the  Macchiavellizatio  of  1621,  concludes 
with  the  words,  Rome,  9 February  1886. 

2 c 


394 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


Haec  ni9i 
amicus  non 
scriberem, 
quae  si  ami- 
cus es  in 
bonam  par- 
tem acci- 
pies.  Mihi 
liic  non  seri- 
tur,  nec 
metitur. 
Vtinam 
eadem  liber- 
tate  in  me 
usus  esses 
olim  ante- 
quam  libros 
ederem. 


omnia  quae  in  scholiis  ciici  possunt,  attuleris,  sed  ea,  quae 
velles  ab  alio  magno  viro  tibi  proposita  esse.  Deinde 
ne  appareat  affectatio  aliqua  multae  lectionis  vel  scientiae, 
ut  q.  cum  in  Gunthero  annotas  Chaos  ab  Hebraeo  dici 
quod  postea  putaut  alii  de  iudustria  esse  positum,  ne 
Hebraearum  literarum  rudis  videaris.  Tertio  ne  quic- 
quarn  contra  Catholicos,  maxime  de  iudustria  arrepta 
occasione,  afferas,  non  quod  putem  esse  cur  Catholici  sibi 
a te  metuant  (erunt  .n.  illi  cum  tu  non  eris)  sed  quod 
nolim  libris  et  nomini  tuo  aditum  Italiae  et  Hispaniae  et 
forte  brevi  Galliae  ipse  intercludas.  Si  enirn  Concilium 
Tridentinum,  velut  nuper  se  laboraturum  Pontifici  Rex 
Christianissimus  promisit,  in  Gallia  recipiatur : actum 
erit  de  libris  vestris.  Et  quando  tandem,  mi  Ritterskusi, 
serio  sapere  incipies,  ut  quanto  cum  animae  corporisque 
periculo  inter  Novatores  vivas,  intelligas  ? Cede  sodes, 
mi  carissime,  cede  inquam  tantis  doctoribus,  et  puta  eos 
melius  Biblia  intellexisse.  Causabonus  noster,  ut  video, 
bonum  tibi  exemplum  praeire  incipit,  qui  nuper  modes- 
tissimam  in  hoc  genere  Epistolam  ad  Card.  Baronium 
perscripsit.  Deus  ilium  magis  illustret,  teque  illi  secu- 
torem  faciat. 

De  studiis  tuis  quid  nunc  prae  manibus  habeas  vel 
confectum  vel  adfectum,  scire  velim  : item  num  Pandectas 
praelegere  coeperis,  postquam  a vobis  discessit  vapulator 
tuus  Wesembecius.  Ego  sub  finem  superioris  et  anni  et 
saeculi  Commentarium  de  Indulgentiis  absolveram,  qui  in 
Germania  imprimetur.  nunc  Spicilegium  Apuleianarum  lec- 
tionum  absolvi.  mox  editioni  epistulae  cujusdam  Dionisii 
Alexandrini  accingar.  Inde  novam  Agellii  aeditionem 
(ne  vide)  cogito,  invito  quamvis  Fiannio,  qui  adeo  in  aula 
foelix  esse  incipit,  ut  illis  quoque  sordeat,  qui  iisdem 
dediti  literis  humanioribus,  quid  credis  propediem  futu- 
rum  ? Erancisci  Schotti  Itinerarium  Italicum  vidistine  ? 
Si  non  vidisti,  autor  sim  istic  ut  emas.  mittam  ego  prima 
occasione  Romae  antiquae  et  novae  delineationes,  magno 
tibi  usui  futuras  in  scriptoribus  interpretandis.  Wacke- 


THE  LETTER  OF  SCIOPPIUS. 


395 


rius  noster  ait  se  humanissime  et  prolixissime  ad  te  scrip- 
sisse,  sed  a te  ne  mh  1 quidem  Lucillii  accipere  adhue 
potuisse.  Ynde,  inquit,  plane  suspicor  ipsum  nobiscum 
Stomachari,  et  cum  hominibus  Idolatris  rem  amplius 
habere  nolle  : quod  nobis  ferendum  est.  Ego  mi  Bitters- 
husi,  non  video  quid  tibi  amicitia  tanti  viri  nocere  possit. 
noli  quaeso  ab  humanitate,  quam  profitemur,  tarn  alienus 
ut  illud  accusari  in  te  forte  queat,  quod  innuere,  quam 
dicere  nimio  malo.  Sed  fortassis  literae  ejus  tibi  non 
sunt  redditae : id  quod  ego  suspicari  malo  et  hoc  etiam 
modo  ipsi  te  nunc  purgo.  Tu  si  me  audis,  nullam  tibi 
hebdomadam  elabi  sines,  qua  nihil  ad  ipsum  scribas, 
praesertim  de  literis  nostris.  Mihi  crede  vir  est  ille  tui 
cupidissimus,  quique  te  quamvis  non  Catholicum  juvare  et 
vellit  et  possit.  Lipsius  noster,  sed  secundus,  ubi  gen- 
tium est  ? quid  ejus  Sallustius,  quid  liber  de  comitibus 
ubi  haerent  ? Guldinastus  quorsum  pervenit,  quorsum 
Kuchelius,  Hubnerus,  Ignatius  ? quaeso  mecurn  com- 
munices,  si  quid  de  illis  certi  habes.  Uxorem  tuam 
liberosque : D.  Queccium,  Scherbiumque  salvere  jubeo. 
Boma,  ut  soleo,  raptim  A.D.  17  Febr.  A0.  1600. 

Tuus  ex  animo  et  nunc  et  olim, 

G.  Schoppius  Fr. 

Antonius  Faber  elegans  ille,  ut  Giphanius  aiebat, 
Juriscls.  nunc  Bomae  vivit  cum  familia  in  negociis 
Ducis  Lotharingiae,  vir  optimus  et  humanissimus,  et 
in  vera  solidaque  jurisprudentia  tradenda  plus  quam 
Giphanianus.  Yalde  vellem  ad  eum  scriberes, 
spondeo  tibi  amicitiam  Yiri  minime  poenitendam. 

1 = mu,  compare  Lucian,  Muller,  Lucilius,  ii.  v.  27.  Lathmann,  v.  1138. 
L)ousa,  Luc.  Sat.  vel.,  p.  50. 


PRINTED  BY  BALLANTYNE,  HANSON  AND  CO. 
EDINBURGH  AND  LONDON. 


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